A Shot at Greatness
by The Blue Sorceress
Summary: A new force from another dimension threatens to enslave all of the DBZ univerese. A strange woman warns Vegeta of this and offers to school him in a technique that will help him defeat these new enemies if he will give her the secret of his power.
1. Nightmares and Duels

A Shot At Greatness

A Shot At Greatness

Written by: Christy, The Blue Sorceress

It was not rare for nightmares to trouble Vegeta's sleep.Usually, however they dealt with the fights he had lost and the shame that accompanied those loses.The battle on Namek was a particularly common nightmare, forcing him to relive those painful moments when he first realized he was going to die, and the moment that he realized was not a Super Saiyan like he had thought.Those nightmares had driven him just as much as his own pride and stubborn determination had when he had trained in preparation for the arrival of the artificial humans.

Now, however, there was no new goal to achieve, and the nightmares had begun to fade.It had been almost two months since Vegeta had awakened in a cold sweat from some terrible dream.Perhaps it was that that had made this new nightmare so exceptionally frightening.It wasn't one of his usual nightmares, no Frieza, no Goku, none of the other terrible enemies he had faced.It was so vague, so random, that he might not have even considered it a nightmare had there not been a deep sense of fear and of loss all throughout, and in the very end, just before he awoke, a sense of impending doom.

Vegeta's eyes opened wide suddenly, and he sat bolt upright in bed.He couldn't shake the sense of death; it hovered over him like a black cloud.He looked over to the other side of the bed, hoping that he hadn't woken Bulma up, and was surprised to find that she wasn't there.

_She's dead,_ was his first thought, but he immediately dismissed that idea; he was still shaken by his nightmare.He cudgeled his brain trying to remember if Bulma had even come to bed at all that night, or if she had stayed up in her lab working on whatever project she had going.He faintly recalled her saying something about having some bugs to work out on her new pet project, but he hadn't really been paying attention.He never paid all that much attention.Now he fervently wished he had.

Too awake and jumpy to go back to sleep Vegeta slipped out of bed and threw on an old T-shirt then left the house quietly, somehow remembering not to wake the kids, who, he assumed, were fast asleep.He walked across the Capsule Corp. compound to Bulma's lab, noting that the lights were on inside.He pressed his face against the glass and peered inside.He saw Bulma sound asleep, slumped over her desk.

"Well, at least someone can sleep tonight," he muttered. For a moment he wondered if he should go in and wake her up, tell her to get to bed, but he decided against it.Let her sleep, he thought.He turned and headed back to the house, feeling a little relieved that nothing was wrong.

Once back inside the house he glanced at the clock, it was five in the morning.There was no way he would be able to get back to sleep, and it was pointless anyway since he had been planning on getting up in half an hour anyway to do a little training, so he went into the kitchen and started brewing a pot of coffee.Coffee was about the only thing he couldn't ruin. While the coffee brewed he sat down at the kitchen table and tried to remember exactly what his nightmare had been about, but everything was so fuzzy he couldn't pick out any details.When the coffee had finished he poured himself a mug full and sat back down at the table.He had taken one or two sips of the steaming brown liquid when he heard the front door open and close and the sound of Bulma's footsteps on the floor.

She must have smelled the coffee because she made a beeline for the kitchen.Stretching sore muscles and yawning she enter the kitchen.Even at five o'clock in the morning after a night of sleeping slumped over her desk Bulma was beautiful.She smiled sleepily at Vegeta and proceeded to pour herself a cup of coffee and sit down opposite him at the table."Morning," she said.

"You never came to bed last night," Vegeta said in a slightly accusatory tone.

Bulma shrugged. "I was about to leave the lab when one of the monitors picked up some funny energy readings.I though I ought to analyze them.I must have," she paused and yawned loudly, "fallen asleep while waiting for the analysis and the printout." She pulled a few sheets of paper out of her coat.

"Give me those!" Vegeta snapped, snatching the papers out of Bulma's hand.

Bulma blinked. "You could say 'please' you know."

Vegeta ignored her and scanned the papers, which showed a series of peaks and valleys.He assumed that the peaks were rises in some sort of energy, and that the valleys were drops of the same.At around one o'clock the night before there had been a sudden, dramatic rise in energy, and then again at about four thirty."What sort of energy is this?" Vegeta demanded.

"Electromagnetic, and the second set is some sort of energy I've never seen before." Bulma answered. "The second time the strange energy rose, it stayed up for about twenty minutes, but the first time it went right back down again."

Vegeta was silent for a while, wondering if this strange new energy reading had anything to do with his dream.He hoped that it didn't."Where was this?"

"Somewhere north of here, I can't say precisely though."Bulma frowned.

"Hey, why the sudden interest in this?Is there something wrong?"

Vegeta ignored her and gulped down the last of his coffee.Then he left the kitchen in a hurry and ran upstairs.Bulma could hear him thumping around for a while and a little later running down the stairs.He stopped in the kitchen for a moment, now dressed in his usual training clothes, and said,"I'll be back later."Then he left the house, not even bothering to shut the door behind him.

He flew up into the air and headed north, the direction from which the strange energy signatures had come.He had no clue what it was that he was looking for, or even if there was anything there, but he had to look anyway. He wasn't usually bothered by nightmares once they were over, but this strange energy was too coincidental for comfort.He might be cold, short-tempered and too proud, but he wasn't one to ignore signs of danger.

An hour later he stopped over a the middle of a large forest, realizing suddenly that he had no way of finding what he was looking for.All Bulma had said was that the energy readings had come from the north, and there was one hell of a lot of north to search.It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Frustrated, Vegeta was about to say to hell with it and go home, when he detected a sudden burst of energy about ten miles to the west of where he was.Homing in on that brief energy reading, he started west.That one little rise in energy had been enough for him to figure out where whatever he was looking for was.As he got nearer he descended to the ground and crept up to where the energy signature had been.He stood at the edge of a very small clearing in front of an equally small cave in a rock wall.There was no sign of anyone nearby, and there were no more telltale energy signatures.Cautiously he entered the clearing, fully alert to the possibility of attack.

A voice called from the mouth of the cave, "I've been expecting you."

Vegeta quickly turned to face whoever it was that had spoken."Who are you?" he demanded."What do you want?

A figure emerged from the cave clad in a long, hooded, blue cloak.The stranger stood a little shorter than Vegeta, and to judge by the voice, this stranger was a female."It took me a while but I realized I needed to signal to you where I was so you could find me," the cloaked stranger said."I've gotten so good at hiding that I'm almost impossible to find even if I want someone to find me."

"Answer me! Who are you?"Vegeta snarled, clenching his hands into fists.

The stranger pulled the hood of her cloak back and look out at Vegeta with very pale, cold blue eyes.She shook her head causing long blonde hair to cascade over her shoulders falling helter-skelter down her back almost to her knees."My name is Chryseis de Curion, and I am here to warn you."

"About what?" Vegeta sneered."What's so important?"

The woman looked back at Vegeta impassively, either ignorant of his short

temper or not caring."I come from another dimension, one where I was of some importance and power.My people were decimated by a disease that wiped out almost all of the lower classes.Now the rulers of my universe are intending to cross the dimensional rift and enslave the people of this universe.I faked my death and came here to warn the people of this dimension of what will happen."

"Why should I believe you?"

That set Chryseis back a bit, however she quickly regained her composure. "Because if

you don't believe me you will die when my people come across the dimensional rift, and all those you love will either die or be enslaved."

Vegeta laughed."I don't die easily, woman."

"Neither do my people.We are great warriors, with great power.I know about your world, I studied it for a long time before I decided to warn you and your dimension of the coming invasion.We have a power that the people here can only dream about."

"Oh really? I'm shaking in my boots," Vegeta deadpanned.

"Don't mock me!" Chryseis snapped.There was an immediate change in her behavior and Vegeta began to suspect that she was just pretending to be cool and aloof. "I didn't come here to be mocked.I didn't risk my life to be made a fool.If I turned my power on you now you would be helpless."

"What is this 'power' you claim to have?" Vegeta demanded condescendingly. He had the slightest idea that this petite young woman was not someone to anger lightly, but he didn't really care."I doubt it's anything special," he added, goading her.

"It is a power shared by the upper class of my world, the power we use to enslave all those who do not posses it.It is a power..."

"Blah, blah, blah! Get on with it, I don't need to hear your stupid babbling."

Chryseis bit back a retort and answered, "My people can suppress the ki of others."

Vegeta masked his surprise with a disbelieving sneer.He hadn't expected anything like that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I could make you about as powerful as a fuzzy little bunny if I chose."Chryseis said, glad that she had managed to take a little of the windout of Vegeta's sails."I mean that even though you are a thousand times more powerful than I, I could defeat you with ease if I wanted to." She paused to recover her composure again, angry that she had let her pride overcome her better judgment.You're on a mission, you silly girl, she reminded herself."However I am not here to fight you and the people of your dimension, I am here to help you," she finished serenely.

"Why?" Vegeta asked. "Why bother, what made you decide you had to come and 'help' us?"

"Does it matter?" Chryseis returned."Will my answer make a difference? All I ask is will you deny me or will you accept my assistance and give yourself half a chance at defending this dimension?"Her anger was returning.

"I don't need anyone's help."

"Oh really?Are you so sure?Six months from now when the people on my home world have finally perfected the technology that mimics my ability jump between dimensions are you going to be able to stop them?"

"Stop asking rhetorical questions!"Vegeta snarled.He paused, had she just said... "What do you mean 'your ability to jump between dimensions'?"

"That's how I got here.The scientists in my dimension have been studying me ever since I exhibited the ability to tune into other dimensions.When I was thirteen I was able to see what was going on in other dimensions with relative ease. Just recently that ability matured, and I was able to jump between dimensions. It's an ability that no one else in my dimension has.After the slave class was wiped out by the Great Plague the King of my dimension ordered the scientists that had been studying me to build a machine that mimicked my abilities so that our armies could invade other dimensions and find a new source of slaves."Chryseis shrugged. It was, in her estimation a very impressive story, but Vegeta seemed more scornful than impressed.

"I find this all highly amusing," Vegeta said brushing Chryseis off. "An interesting fairy tale, but no more than that.What a waste of time."He turned around and began to walk away.

"You don't believe me?" Chryseis demanded, her temper finally boiling over."Do you want me to prove it to you?"

"You can't prove a lie to be true."

Chryseis gritted her teeth. He had just called her a liar...? That was the final straw, no more miss nice girl. "Then why are you walking away?I bet you're afraid to find out the truth.You're afraid that I'm right!"

Vegeta spun around his face contorted with anger."Are you calling me a coward?" He roared.

"Yeah, you bet!" Chryseis answered.A feral grin crossed her lips; he would get what he had coming for calling her a liar."I dare you to fight me."

"You're going to wish you'd never been born."

"Stop with the idle threats and power up, I've got no patience for pointless conversation."

Vegeta regarded Chryseis with contempt.He would show this upstart little fool.It took no more than a second or two to power up into a Super Saiyan, and then only a few more seconds to achieve Super Saiyan level two.A cruel grin quirked his mouth as he looked at Chryseis. "Ready to die?"

Chrysies threw off her cloak, letting it float almost lazily to the ground.Underneath she was wearing a tight-fitting one-piece blue jumpsuit with no right sleeve, exposing an intricate blue tattoo that wove all up her right arm, shoulders and a little way up her neck."I have no intention of dying, or of killing you.That would be counterproductive." Her feral grin widened into something demonic and brimming with rage. "I just plan on defeating you."

"I'm so sure."Vegeta snarled, setting himself.

Chryseis laughed, a sound with no humor in it at all."Come and get me, I'll stand right here."

Vegeta smiled. "If you say so," he said coldly.He launched himself at her at full speed, aiming a blow straight at her mocking smile.He should have knocked her head clean off her body, but something happened.Chryseis used her power, and suddenly Vegeta felt himself losing strength.In less than the time it took for him to fly the few yards that separated him from Chryseis, Vegeta had slipped out of Super Saiyan.He faltered, and Chryseis ducked beneath him, grabbed him by the left leg and swung him into the ground.He skipped like a stone for ten yards before plowing through a stand of trees. 

"I told you," Chryseis said evenly as she walked toward where Vegeta lay, shocked, on the ground."I warned you.I could have done without the demonstration, but you wouldn't believe me."

Vegeta scrambled to his feet."What...?" he began only to be cut off by a series of rapid-fire punches to the gut.Unable to block any of Chryseis attacks, Vegeta became an unwilling punching bag.

Chryseis knocked his legs out from under him and threw him to the ground again."I bet you wish you had believed me now," she said quietly.She put her foot on his throat and held him in place."I bet you wish you had believed me," she repeated, as she leaned hard, slowly crushing his windpipe.

Vegeta could only see the feral smile on her face, and as his vision began to cloud with black from lack of oxygen, that smile haunted him.He was incapable of doing anything; he had become too weak.Suddenly, just before Vegeta blacked out, the pressure on his throat was gone, and the black spotsreceded from his eyes.A few moments passed, and nothing happened, giving Vegeta a little time to catch his breath.He sat up, rubbing the spot on his throat where Chryseis' foot had been, and looked around for his attacker.He was more than a little surprised to find her leaning hard against a tree trunk, breathing hard and shaking uncontrollably.He got to his feet and stood uncertainly, frowning at Chryseis.

"What are you doing?" he demanded after a moment. He spat a mouthful of blood; she had worked him over pretty good. 

Chryseis shivered. "Sometimes the power can be hard to control."

Vegeta became even more confused."What?"

"I was born into the slave class, and it was not known that I had the ability to Suppress until I was about five years old.When they found this out the Lord of my planet took me in as his own child and raised me.I quickly surpassed my adoptive father in the area of Suppression, and..."

"What does you life story have to do with anything?" Vegeta demanded irritably.She still hadn't released her 'Suppression' on him, and it made him angry.

"It's relevant," Chryseis answered, sinking to the forest floor, her back still against the tree."I always had trouble controlling myself when I used my power.I always got so... angry, but when I began to see into other dimensions it got worse."She clenched her hands to get them to stop shaking."Sometimes my anger... I lose all control and I slip.I almost killed you."

"No..." Vegeta began

"Don't you dare deny it! You feel my power.No false bravado, you are helpless against Suppression," Chryseis cut him off."I almost didn't stop.I didn't come here to fight you; I came here to help you, but the challenge of battle... I think you know what I mean.It makes my blood run like lava when I fight a worthy opponent." She had finally stopped shaking."Anyway, I'm sorry." 

Vegeta nodded gruffly.He could understand what she felt; he often regretted things he did when he was angry, though he never admitted it."You said you would teach me this 'Suppression', so get on with it." 

Chryseis shook her head."You don't understand.I'm not sure, really sure, you can even be taught it, and it will take time for you to learn it. There is a lot of preparation that has to be done before you jump into the training.You saw what happened when I lost control of my anger, if you don't get a really, really good grip on your anger, you might end up destroying what you hope to save."

"I have a perfectly good grip on..."

"Don't waste your breath.You forget that I've been watching this dimension for a long time.I know exactly how easily you can be angered," Chryseis interrupted.She walked over to where she had left her cloak and threw it around her shoulders again.

Vegeta followed somewhat reluctantly, and only because he was curious about the Suppression technique.Suddenly he felt the need to ask, "So what are you getting out of this?"

Chryseis looked him in the eyes, and began carefully."My people have always been dimensional shifters.Every ten or so generations a person is born with the ability not only to Suppress, but also to move between dimensions.The dimension I was born into was not the home dimension of my people. In fact we have no idea what our home dimension really was.However when the scientists began to study my power, they realized that the dimension we were living in at the time had been almost an exact replica of this dimension," she emphasized her point by jabbing one finger at the ground, "before my people arrived ten generations ago. The differences were on the very slightest of scales.In other words in my dimension there were Saiyans, and Namekians, and all sorts of other species that are in this dimension."

Vegeta suddenly became very interested.Where could this strange woman be trying to tell him?

"Your race, as well as countless others, was enslaved when my people arrived, and your people interbred with mine.Ten generations back, a Saiyan Princess was made a slave of one of the lesser Lords of my people.She had a child, who was born a slave, and never surpassed that status because he was incapable of Suppression, but that child managed to do something few slave children ever did, he lived and raised two children of his own.Eventually the ancestors of that Princess were taken into the household of the current King's family, and two generation ago one of those ancestors, a woman, was accosted by the future King.She bore a baby, who grew up and gave birth to me. I am one one-thousand twenty-fourth parts Saiyan royalty.

_That surprised Vegeta off quite a bit_

Chryseis continued, "Before I first started to see into this dimension I wondered why my ancestors had made so sure to tell each generation exactly what our lineage was, after all we were just slaves.When I saw you and that other, the one you call Kakarott, fight I began to understand what exactly had driven all my ancestors, and me, to succeed.I have learned that I had two of the most powerful royal blood lines in my veins, and that, in combination with my own rare dimensional shifting abilities, made me a powerful person.

But your people were thought of as nothings by my own, they were nearly wiped out in the first few years my people were in my dimension.Only a few managed to survive, and their blood was diluted with the blood of slaves.As far as I know only my family kept the knowledge of your proud race, and only they kept the knowledge of your greatest legend.I was raised for the first five years of my life on the legend of the Super Saiyan.When there was no food because out master wanted to punish us, my grandmother fed my siblings and I that legend.When we were sick she sat by our bedsides and whispered it in our ears. My elder brother died while my grandmother told him the legend that you and that other have made a reality, at least in your dimension.Never, in all the years I was at the my adoptive father's home and in the King, my grandfather's court, did I forget that legend, and when I saw you I knew I had to someday have your power."Chryseis stared unblinkingly into Vegeta's eyes, the intensity of her gaze making him frown."That's what I hope to get out of this bargain.I hope... have to become a Super Saiyan like you."

When Vegeta finally got over the complete amazement at Chryseis sudden revelation he spoke up."I hate to burst your bubble after such a rousing speech, but you will never be able to become a Super Saiyan, royal blood or not."

"How do you know that?"

Vegeta gave a short laugh."Because your blood is too diluted.You could never hope to achieve my power. Besides which, you're female.I doubt females have the ability to become Super Saiyans"

"I'm not demanding that you succeed," Chryseis argued, "I'm just asking that you try.All my life I've been one step below respected.Even when I was in the court of the King and my adoptive father I was always considered the slave that had risen above her station by a freakish chance.Seeing into this dimension has given me something to aspire to, even if it is a million miles out of my reach."

Vegeta regarded her with mild curiosity and perhaps even a little appreciation for her talents.Chryseis knew that trying to become a Super Saiyan would be like trying to hold a star in the palm of her hand, but she refused to give up on the idea without trying.That reminded Vegeta of the Saiyan determination, a trait all his people had carried until their deaths.Even diluted by ten generations of mixing with other races Chryseis' Saiyan traits were clear as day to the trained eye and ear.Her eyes, a touch too large for ideal beauty, the way she stood, like a proud, honorable warrior, the smile that gloved her lips in anticipation of battle, these were all Saiyan traits.For that Chryseis gained a smidgen of Vegeta's grudging respect.Besides which, she offered to teach him a technique that would make him more powerful than just about anyone he could ever face, and all she asked in return was that he try to help her become a Super Saiyan.

Still, he had some doubts."I don't take on fights I know I'm going to lose.That's Kakarott's job.If you're willing to waste time trying to achieve the impossible, go to him."

Chryseis gave a short bark of laughter."I told you I've been watching this dimension for a long time now, and trying to pawn me off on _him is a waste of your time. Honestly, the reason I came to you was because, one, we're probably related, albeit very distantly, two, because I figured you would be the one who could learn Suppression, and three, because that Goku, or Kakarott as you call him, doesn't strike me as the kind of man that could learn Suppression. From what I've obsereved I don't think his brain works that way." She shrugged. "Anyway, I doubt that you would throw away a chance at becoming more powerful just because you might not be able to teach me to become a Super Saiyan."_

Chryseis was right; she had Vegeta completely figured out."Fine then, we had better hurry up and get cracking if you think you can become a Super Saiyan before your people arrive, what, six months from now?"

Chryseis nodded."It isn't going to be an easy task to teach you Suppression either, it's a lot of hard work."

"I can handle hard work."

Chryseis nodded."Well, then are we going to stand out here in the middle of nowhere, or do you have somewhere we can train?" she asked, not so subtly hinting that they ought to leave.

"Follow me," Vegeta ordered, flying up into the air so that he was a few feet above the forest canopy.

Chryseis flew up after him and followed him back to Capsule Corp. furious that she had let herself lose control of her anger.It was completely unacceptable.A true warrior would have been able to keep her anger in check, but though she was an excellent fighter and she had a remarkable talent for Suppression, Chryseis knew that she was far from being a true warrior.Too much emotion, too little control, something that would have to be remedied very soon. 

They landed just in front of the house and went inside.

Bulma was in the kitchen loading dishes into the dishwasher when Vegeta entered followed by Chryseis.

"Wow, I didn't expect you back so soon," Bulma said without looking toward them.She turned and her eyes widened."What happened? You're a bloody mess!" she demanded of Vegeta, giving him a stern, 'tell-me-now-or-else' look.He gaze swung over to Chryseis."Who's this?"She looked Chryseis up and down."And what is she wearing?"

"You explain," Vegeta grumped.

So Chryseis explained, filling in with a little more detail the same story she had told Vegeta.Bulma stared, at first with complete disbelief and surprise, and then later half grudging acceptance of the truth.

"So that's what those funny readings were," Bulma said."I suppose opening a dimensional rift will do those sorts of things."

"Keep an eye out for more readings like those," Chryseis said a little gruffly.She realized how rude that must have sounded and added, "please."

Bulma shrugged."Okay," she said, frowning a bit, "sounds interesting anyway."

Vegeta, who for the duration of Chryseis' explanation, had been waiting semi-patiently for her to finish, said, "Are we going to train or are you two going to start exchanging recipes?"

"No, we can start right in on the training, but you should know that for the first week or two, maybe even the first month, there won't be any real fighting.I've got to teach you the Suppression technique first," Chryseis replied. "Do you have any place in particular that's quiet, preferably outdoors, or in some natural setting?"

Bulma was the one who answered, "You could try the backyard.That's the best place I can think of."

Chryseis nodded again. She headed out of the kitchen, and Vegeta followed.

So began a training regimen that was exhausting, though to the outside viewer it seemed easy.It was very difficult at first for Chryseis to get Vegeta to focus on mastering his anger and pride, and he never truly got a grip on his pride, but once he had sufficient control they moved on to learning how to Suppress.

Using Suppression began with sensing the power level of one's opponent, then trying to lock access to that power away.Often Vegeta would get frustrated when Chryseis threw off his attempts to Suppress her, but she explained that it was because she was particularly adept at resisting Suppression.

"When I was first living at the royal court I was subject to ridicule.A lot of the time the other warriors at court would challenge me to a duel just so they could show exactly how weak I was.Eventually I stopped working on Suppressing others and concentrated on resisting Suppression.One day I was challenged to a duel by a young man who had often beaten me I was able to throw off his Suppression and beat him.He had spent to much time on Suppressing stronger opponents and not enough time becoming stronger himself and building up his resistance."Chryseis smiled coldly."I didn't finish him off.I let him retain his life, but not his honor."

"That was a foolish mistake," Vegeta told her, his eyes closed as he began to focus."Never let an enemy live after you have defeated them.They always come back, and they're always stronger."

"I knew you were going to say that," Chryseis said with a short laugh. "That man did challenge me again, but the next time I destroyed him without hesitation.From then on everyone took me seriously.They never respected me though."

There was a short silence, then Vegeta spoke up, mildly irritated."Are we going to train?"

Chryseis smirked."I was just giving you a little break, you know, letting you catch your breath."She stretched lazily."Okay, I'm going to power up, and you've got to try and push my power back down."

Vegeta cracked his knuckles."This time I've got your number, girl."

Chryseis just nodded, and proceeded to power up.She had gotten a considerable amount stronger in a very short time, and Vegeta guessed that her power level was something around nine hundred thousand, far above human norms, but far below the power level of a Super Saiyan.He still had his doubts as to whether or not she was able to become a Super Saiyan, but those doubts were beginning to fade a little.He reached out mentally and got a good sense of Chryseis' ki and tried to find a way to block her access to her power, but it was like trying to dam a raging, flood-swollen river with a few logs. It wasn't easy to maintain either, it took all the mental strength Vegeta had just to hold back that little bit of power.He also felt himself losing control of himself. Chryseis had been short on details about what exactly happened when a person used Suppression, but from what she had said, and what Vegeta was able to piece together from his own limited experience, it seemed that the concentration focused of Suppression took away from a person's ability to harness and control their own emotions.Whatever a person felt was magnified a hundred fold when they used Suppression.Vegeta's anger began to boil over like a pot of soup left too long on the stove, and he snapped.Instantly Chryseis turned her Suppression on him.

"Okay, easy now.Let go of the Suppression!" she shouted to him.

Vegeta began to calm down and release his Suppression of Chryseis.He sank to the ground, exhausted.He slammed his fist into the ground, leaving an indentation."Damn it.I had it that time!"

Chryseis sat down in front of him."You really did.I'm surprised you were able to Suppress my ki as much as you did.That was impressive."

"Pointless flattery aside," Vegeta said grumpily, "How long do you think it will take until I can Suppress you as much as you can Suppress me?"

"A hell of a lot longer than we've got," Chryseis said."But, hey, the people we'll be fighting aren't nearly as good as resisting Suppression as I am. I imagine if I had been one of them, you would have knocked my power so low Iwould have fallen asleep."

"Well, you're not one of those warriors, you're you, and I won't be satisfied until I'm even with you in Suppression."

"And I won't be satisfied until I become a Super Saiyan."

And that was that.There would be no stopping either of them from achieving their goals.

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Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters except those that I created with my own twisted imagination. Don't sue me, I don't have any money anyway.

Thanks,

The Blue Sorceress


	2. Tests

Hi!

Due to a little thought I've decide to edit and re-post my second chapter.I noticed -and so did at least one other person- that there was a little bit too much Goku bashing, so I went back and changed a few things.

The Blue Sorceress 

______________________________________________________________________________

News of Chryseis and the fact that she was teaching Vegeta a new technique spread like a school yard rumor; by the week after Chryseis had arrived all the Z fighters knew, and they had all congregated to see if Chryseis would teach them as well.Goku, Gohan and Goten were the first three to arrive, and Chryseis made it very clear to all of them that it was certain none of them would be able to learn Suppression.

"It's simple, you can't learn it, your brain isn't wired right," Chryseis explained to them all.

Gohan protested, "How can you be sure?" 

Chryseis gave him a patronizing stare."There is no real way to be sure without a test, but I don't have the means to test you.However, I can almost guarantee that you three would not be able to learn Suppression."

"I don't think that's very good logic," Gohan replied.

"It's not logic, it's a feeling!" Chryseis snapped.

"I just want to know for sure..."

"So you think I'm lying?"

"I never said that..."

Chryseis glared viciously."I can of course cross back over to my dimension and steal some of the testing equipment, that is if you really want to be sure."In just a few sentences Chryseis whole demeanor changed.She went from being cautiously friendly to defensive and angry in no time flat.Gohan had made the mistake of suggesting that Chryseis was dishonest, something Vegeta had quickly learned was a mistake he didn't want to make.Chryseis valued honesty above everything save honor, and while she might consider lying to an enemy as part of a battle strategy she saw no point in compromising her honor by lying to someone she had no particular care for.She never lied to a friend.

"That's not necessary," Gohan said, suddenly realizing that he had somehow offended her.

"No, I think it is," Chryseis said very stiffly.She turned to Vegeta."I shouldn't be more than an hour or so, I know exactly where what I need is.While I'm gone why don't you work on some of those mental exercises I taught you, and maybe give them a small demonstration of how Suppression works."

Vegeta nodded.He understood why Chryseis was doing what she was doing, Gohan had questioned her honor, her honesty, and her integrity, something that Chryseis wouldn't have put up with even from a person she liked, let alone someone she didn't particularly care for. 

A swirling portal vortex opened in front of Chryseis.She nodded once to the assembled 

warriors, and stepped through the portal, which closed as suddenly as it had appeared.There was 

no flash of light, no noise, she was just gone.It was perhaps more impressive than if there had been a lot of light and noise.

"Well, now you've done it," Vegeta said after Chryseis was gone."She'll be angry for the rest of the day."

"What did he do?" Goku asked.He had remained silent for a long time.

"Your son, the genius, just called her a liar, so she had to find a way to disprove him," Vegeta answered condescendingly.

"I didn't call her a liar..."

"Your words implied that you didn't believe her," Vegeta cut him off.He gave Goku, Gohan and Goten a cold smile."Now if you'll pay attention and stop arguing with me I can give you a demonstration of how Suppression works."At that moment Bra came tearing across the lawn followed closely by Trunks.Vegeta called out, "Trunks, come here, you too, Bra."

Both children stopped dead in their tracks and walked guiltily over to their father.

"She started it!She's always in my room and getting into my stuff!" Trunks said defensively.

Vegeta frowned."What?Oh never mind! Hey, what the..." he looked down and saw Bra 

tugging on the hem of his shirt."What is it?"

"Trunks was being a meany, Daddy," Bra said."He said a was a stupid girl so I said he was a..."

"Just ignore him," Vegeta told her quickly, cutting off a long, and likely dull story.He picked his daughter up and turned to Trunks."Kakarott and his sons want a demonstration of Suppression."

"Oh ho!" Trunks said grinning."Watch this Goten, its way cool!" Then Trunks powered up into Super Saiyan.

Exerting only minimal power Vegeta quickly Suppressed Trunks back down to normal.It was definitely a lot easier to Suppress someone who couldn't resist at all Vegeta decided.He released his Suppression on Trunks and turned, his face all-awash in smirking pride, to Goku and the other two Saiyans.

"Um..." Goku said, his eyes wide.

"Er..." Gohan added, equally impressed.

"Neato!" Goten shouted."You're right Trunks, way cool!"

Gohan cleared his throat."And you can do that to anybody?"

"Everybody except Chryseis," Vegeta answered Gohan with a self-satisfied nod.

"I want to learn it!" Goku exclaimed.

Vegeta glowered at him."Didn't you pay any attention to the girl?"

"Well she can't always be right..." Gohan began.

From her father's arms Bra interrupted, "Chryseis is always right.She said so herself, didn't she Daddy?"

"Yes she did, now hush up, this is grown-up talk, you hear?"Vegeta said, gently chiding his daughter."She's off in her own dimension right now finding the equipment to prove that she is right." He glared pointedly at Gohan, who flushed red and looked down at his feet."I hope your foolish, whining and complaining doesn't screw up my chances of winning this battle."

"Don't you mean our chances?" Goku asked.

"No I mean... hey, cut that out!" Vegeta began only to be interrupted as Bra started pulling on his arm. 

"Can Goten and I go now?" Trunks asked.

"Sure, whatever, go," Vegeta told the boy.The boys grinned mischievously and took off like rockets toward the house.Vegeta turned back to Goku."I mean my chances, and Chryseis chances as well.You and your brats would only be a hindrance.What!?" Bra was still tugging on his arm. 

"Me too, right Daddy?" Bra asked, giving her father her sweetest puppy dog eyes."Chryseis said that she'd teach me Suppression too so that we could all beat up the bad guys

together!"

Vegeta half smiled."Sure squirt, you can fight too if you learn Suppression. I promise.Now go bother your brother for a while."

Bra smiled brightly, wriggled out of her father's arms and ran toward the house calling, "Hey Underwear head! Daddy says I get to bug you!"

Goku shook his head, grinning.

Vegeta's eyes followed his daughter as she entered the house, he smirked, not his usual 

pride full smirk, but a genuinely happy smirk.His daughter was a spunky little kid, she took after her mother a whole lot, and when Vegeta thought about it, she took after him a whole lot too.She had never before expressed any interest in fighting though, except for her usual verbal bouts with her older brother.Maybe Chryseis was a good influence on the kid.

He noticed Goku and Gohan staring at him with perplexed expressions on their faces and he turned back to them, his features once again regaining their usual grumpiness."What are you looking at me like that for, you big idiots?"

Goku scratched his head and looked down at his feet, Gohan unconsciously copying him a few seconds later."No reason," they both muttered at the same time.

"Fools," Vegeta hissed savagely."You can go in the house, I'll make sure you know when Chryseis gets back."

"What're you going to be doing?" Goku asked, interested.

"Training, like Chryseis instructed you moron!" Vegeta answered with a scowl.

"Can we..." Goku began.

"No!" Vegeta shouted.

Gohan protested, "Hey, no need to get touchy, we're interested, that's all.What harm could it be to let us watch?"

Vegeta gritted his teeth.The problem was that it took about all the concentration he had to keep his anger under control while practicing Suppression, and the likelihood that he would snap and attack one of the two Sons was high.True, he no longer hated Goku or Gohan, or any of Goku's family for that matter, but they bothered him.Their very existence niggled at the back of his mind.He should have been the best, not Goku, or Gohan or Goten, and being reminded that his promised destiny had slipped past him only made him bitter.And from bitterness sprung anger, and anger and Suppression didn't mix. It was better for both the Sons and Vegeta that they leave. "Go bother someone else, you'll be interrupting me endlessly with your damn fool questions."And that was the final word on the subject.

Goku and Gohan trooped into the house and sat down to talk with Bulma while Vegeta concentrated on a few of the mental exercises Chryseis had taught him.It wasn't hard to think of something that made him angry with Goku and his two sons hanging around, but concentrating on controlling that anger and channeling it was hard.Still, it was a lot easier than it had been the first few time he had tried it. 

Inside Goten and Trunks were flaked out in front of the television while they discussed various and sundry things that interest teenage boys; girls, cars, fighting, how the teachers at school were such stick-in-the-muds, the usual. Bra, true to her intentions of bothering her older 

brother and his friend, insisted on sitting with them and put in her own opinion every so often.

"Boys have cooties," she announced.

Goten frowned at her."Where did that come from?"

Trunks shrugged. "She's random like that sometimes."He gave his little sister and noogie. Bra giggled and poked him in the ribs."But despite the fact that she's a spoiled little brat sometimes, she can be a good kid too."

Goten looked at the little girl as if he didn't believe his friend.Bra was always in the way when he was around. He let the conversation drop."Did you see Rebecca Lawsen last Friday?"

Trunks shook his head.

"The principle sent her home to go change her clothes.Man, she ought to wear skirts like that more often..."

In the kitchen Goku, Gohan and Bulma were also talking, though about more relevant things than the prettiest girl in school.

"I don't like her very much," Gohan said quietly."I know, I know, I shouldn't judge!" He added quickly, waving down Bulma's protest."She's from another culture, she's got different values, but geez! She doesn't have to be so rude, you know?"

"I think it is how she was raised, Gohan," Bulma argued. "I haven't heard much, but her culture sounds very violent.And very driven by honor.When she first got here Vegeta doubted her story and called her a liar.You should have seen the bruises he came back with when he brought her to the house.I've pretty much seen that there is a line that you don't cross with her."

"She doesn't need to be so touchy," Gohan muttered.Something about Chryseis struck him as... off.Maybe it was the fact that she was from another dimension, but she seemed to disrupt the natural order of things.Gohan glance over at his father, who was sipping at a cup of tea. Gohan decided that he would find out later whether or not Goku got the same feeling from the petite blonde interloper.

After an hour, as she had predicted, Chryseis reappeared in the Capsule Corp compound, and flew over to where Vegeta was sitting.

"Hey you," Chryseis called to him, "I've got the equipment."She was pleased that Vegeta had actually done what she'd instructed.There were times when he could be stubborn just for the heck of it.

Vegeta opened one eye and peered up at Chryseis."Whatever," he muttered, getting to his feet."You need to give me some harder mental exercises, the others are getting too easy."

Chryseis nodded."This is a good sign. You may be ready to progress to the next level."

"What is that? Something hard I hope."

"Oh yeah, you get to start sparring with me."

"Oh _goody!_" Vegeta exclaimed, his voice overflowing with sarcasm, "I get to _spar_ with 

_you_! What and honor."

Chryseis smirked."I'm glad you're so excited. So, where did they go?" 

"Into the house," Vegeta answered. 

"Did they like the demonstration?"

"Yes, of course," Vegeta said impatiently."Can we get this over with now?"

"Of course," Chryseis said.She followed Vegeta into the house where they found Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Bra flaked out in front of the television watching cartoons.

"I'm back!" Chryseis called.

"Hey wow, an hour's over already!" Goku and Goten said in unison.

"Where's the equipment?" Gohan asked.He didn't see her carrying anything.

Chryseis gave Gohan a self-satisfied smirk.She took her cloak off and pulled a small case out of one of the inner pockets. 

Goten's eyes bugged out of their sockets, he had yet to see Chryseis without her cloak on and he instantly realized what he had been missing. 

Trunks nudged his friend in the side."You think that's something?You should see her when she's working out and she's all sweaty," he grinned.

Goten growled something about how unfair it was that he didn't have a hot blonde training his dad.

"Cheer up, you can come visit any time you want," Trunks whispered. 

Goten immediately became happier.

Meanwhile the adults had gotten down to business, sort of.After pulling the small case out of her cloak pocket Chryseis set it down on the coffee table and opened it up.Immediately whatever was in the case began to expand and unfold itself.When the process had finished a small computer, a set of small monitors and two electronic leads were sitting on the table.The computer hummed quietly, but the monitors were blank because they had yet to be hooked up to anything.

"I'm going to need to get a few baseline readings from people who I know have the ability to Suppress, and since you are the only one here other than myself who I know can Suppress you and I are going to have to be tested first, Vegeta," Chryseis said."Do you want to go first, or shall I?"

"I'll go first," Vegeta volunteered reluctantly."What do I have to do?"

"Just have a seat on the couch."Chryseis instructed him, picking up the two leads and attaching one end of each to each of the monitors.Once Vegeta was seated she attached the other ends of the leads to his temples, and flipped on the monitors.One monitor remained blank while the other registered a number in a different language. "Hmm," Chryseis said, glancing at the monitor, "You've gotten a bit stronger than you were before you started learning how to resist Suppression.I always figured resisting Suppression helped a person raise their power level, though I need more data before I get proof," she smirked at Vegeta, "one person, after all, isn't enough to base a paper on."

"So what exactly does that particular number mean?" Bulma asked, entering the living 

room.She had heard the scientific talk all the way upstairs and had been beyond intrigued.

"That is Vegeta's max power level in his most powerful form, at this time only of course, with training it'll just keep going up."

"Thank you, Chryseis, Queen of the Obvious," Vegeta said.

"Your welcome, Vegeta, King of Sarcasm and Witty Retorts," Chryseis replied as if she had just said something completely normal and not at all out of place.

There was a small amount of laughter from the crowd gathered in the living room; even Vegeta and Chryseis had to smile, or smirk rather, neither of them really did anything but smirk.

"Ooh, I've been skewered," Vegeta said, living up to his title."Now can we get on with the blasted testing?"

"Of course," Chryseis said. 

"Hey, wait," Goku interrupted."I can't make heads or tails of this power level number thingy, what is that number?"

Chryseis gave Goku a disgusted glance. "'Power level number thingy'?" she asked."You really are technically gifted aren't you? If you really must know, Vegeta's max power level in his most powerful form at this time is..." she paused to look at the screen, "Three hundred sixty seven million, nine hundred forty two thousand, five hundred one... and seven tenths."

"Wow, that's a big number, Daddy," Bra said.

"Any more questions?" Chryseis asked. She looked around the room.

"No, go ahead," Goku said. 

Gohan nodded.

Goten nodded as well, but he seemed to be paying more attention to Chryseis' chest than to what she was saying.

Chryseis noticed this and gave the teenager a death-glare.

Goten turned pink and found a reason to be looking elsewhere.

Goku sighed. Chryseis was a prickly woman, he decided.

"Okay," Chryseis said, turning her attention back to Vegeta, "this is going to hurt a bit, but you're a big boy, I'm sure you can handle it."

Vegeta gave Chryseis and impatient glare. "Just get it over with," he said.

Chryseis nodded and reached for a button on the front of the small computer and pressed down.There was a beeping noise from the computer and the second monitor lit up, showing a series of four peaks and valleys.There was one huge peak in the middle of the graph under which something was written in strange words.Another slightly smaller peak was at the far right of the graph, and under it was more strange script.The other two peaks were much smaller, but still significant.

"Well, not surprisingly, the power level peak is absolutely off the scale," Chryseis said, pointing to the middle peak, "and also not surprisingly the Suppression indication peak is way up there as well." She turned to Bulma, "I'm pleased to report that your husband has a significantly above average intelligence," she pointed to the first peak, "and that he is able to learn very, very quickly.All in all what the people on my world would consider a perfect fighter.Congratulations, Vegeta, you are eligible to become one of the ruling class in my dimension, if not the King."

"But I'm already the King," Vegeta reminded her, "the King of Sarcasm and Witty Retorts."

"A title well earned, my Liege," Chryseis assured him.She pressed a key on the computer and it spat out printed copies of what was on both monitors.She unhooked Vegeta from the 

monitors and handed him the two sheets of paper."Here, for posterity's sake."

Goten muttered something about how he'd do anything for her posterior's sake.

"I heard that," Chryseis informed the boy.

Goten blushed bright pink again and ducked behind the couch to wait out his embarrassment.

"Now for me," Chryseis said, nudging Vegeta none too kindly off the couch and sitting down where he had been.She attached the leads to her own temples and reset the machines."Now, if you'll all kindly look at the power level monitor, you will see that my power level, in my most powerful form, which, hey, happens to be my only form, is nine hundred eighty two thousand, seven hundred sixty four and..." she peered at the screen, "five hundred thirteen thousandths.In other words I'm a big weakling, however, I can make you big weaklings too.Bulma, if you'd kindly the button on the computer for me, yeah that one, thanks, we will get to see how I measure up against Vegeta..."

The conversation paused for a time while the computer scanned Chryseis

"See how big my 'potential to learn Suppression' peak is? That almost made the doctors that first tested me crap their pants.The potential you have to learn Suppression never changes, you see, it stays the same. How you use Suppression and how much you train determines your success within that potential.In other words, if I had remained undiscovered I would have had a whole lot of potential, but no ability.My power level peak is, of course, nothing compared to Vegeta's, but our learning speed and intelligence peaks are about the same."Chryseis printed out her own readings and unhooked the leads from her temples."So, who gets to go next?"

Goku raised his had excitedly."Me! Me! Me! Me!"He called out, squirming with 

anticipation.

Chryseis stood up, letting Goku take her place on the couch.She connected the leads to his temples and reset the equipment."Much like Vegeta, Goku has a very, very high power level, at this time it is exactly three hundred sixty seven million, nine hundred forty two thousand, five hundred seventy five and three hundredths.Sorry, Vegeta, but he's got you beat by a hairsbreadth."

Vegeta shrugged, doing his best not to look disappointed.He was quite successful."If you're right that learning how to resist Suppression makes a fighter more powerful then I should surpass Kakarott."He gave Goku a chilly smile.

Chryseis once more pressed the button on her computer and the second monitor became 

active.Chryseis examined the monitor."High power level peak, of course, but absolutely no potential to learn Suppression. The intelligence peak is a little above average, and the learning speed peak is about as high as Vegeta's.No surprise there."She turned the machine off and unhooked Goku."Everything is as I predicted.Who wants to go next?"

As Chryseis predicted, neither Goku nor his two sons were capable of learning Suppression. On the other hand, much to Chryseis surprise, not to mention Vegeta and Bulma's, Trunks and Bra both showed that they shared their father's potential to learn the Suppression technique.While Bra bounced around excitedly and Trunks seemed smugly happy, all three Sons seemed more than a little disappointed. 

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Goku asked.

Chryseis shook her head.She might not be all that fond of Goku, but she knew that she would need all the strong fighters she could get."If there was a way that would be great, but there isn't.Unless you want to be practice dummies that is, and I don't think you do."

"No, I suppose we don't," Goku said, sighing.He slapped one of his hands against his thigh in frustration."I hate being useless though."

Gohan and Goten added their agreement. 

"If I can think of anything I'll have Bulma get in touch with you, okay?" Chryseis offered.

Goku brightened."Yeah, that sounds great."He gave Chryseis a big smile."And by the way, I hear you're trying your hand at becoming a Super Saiyan, good luck."

Chryseis did her best to return Goku's smile, but ended up with only a cold parody."I 

hope that it won't depend on luck," she said.

The Sons said their good-byes and headed home as Chryseis sent Trunks and Bra outside to begin their training in Suppression.

"I suppose it is a good thing that they can learn Suppression," Chryseis said in a private 

aside to Vegeta. "You need to learn how to resist Suppression from more than one person."

"I can resist one person, it should be no trouble to learn to resist more," Vegeta replied.

Chryseis shook her head, causing her golden hair to cascade over her shoulders."No, it's not like that.With each person attempting to Suppress you it becomes more difficult to resist Suppression by a factor of ten.I'm not expecting my people to send more than three to four people into this world, but resisting Suppression from four opponents would be..." she paused and did a little math in her head, "... ten thousand times harder than resisting Suppression from one opponent.Lucky for us it's only possible for each person to Suppress one power, so we should only have to face off against two opponents each. If only Trunks and Bra could get good enough at Suppression by the time we have to battle... but I don't think their minds are developed enough yet to split between fighting and using Suppression.I would say they ought to join the battle from the sidelines, but that would be too dangerous."

Vegeta nodded."This means we won't be having as easy of a fight as I thought."

"Exactly," Chryseis confirmed.

Vegeta smiled coldly."Good, I hate easy fights."


	3. Grief

A month later Trunks and Bra watched as Chryseis and Vegeta sparred.Both of the combatants were using Suppression and resisting Suppression, causing them to be relatively evenly matched.Though Vegeta had much less experience with Suppression than Chryseis he had a much higher power level, and Chryseis' experience made up for her lack of strength.When they had first started sparring Chryseis had insisted that they not use ki blasts, mostly because of the destruction that could be caused, so when she and Vegeta fought it was hand-to-hand.

They were up in the air, zipping around the Capsule Corp. compound like giant fireflies, kicking, punching, pulling, smashing, elbowing and kneeing each other without mercy.Vegeta succeeded in blocking a series of jabs and kicks from Chryseis and returned her attack with a full force blow aimed at her stomach.Chryseis started to block the blow, then stiffened up in shock.Vegeta's attack hit her dead on and she plummeted to the ground, leaving a not-so-small divot in the earth.Chryseis didn't move for a while so Vegeta landed and went to see if she was conscious.

"Hey, girl, are you alive?" he asked, looking down on her.

Chryseis eyes were wide open in shock and fear, but other than that she seemed all right."I... I..." she began hesitantly, getting to her feet and shaking her head.

Vegeta frowned, what had gotten into her?He hadn't hit her all that hard.

Chryseis collapsed to her knees, her legs unable to support her weight for some reason."Oh no, they wouldn't..." she said quietly to herself."They wouldn't..."

"Who wouldn't what?"Vegeta demanded irritably."You're not making any sense!"

Chryseis looked up at him, as if seeing him for the first time since she blanked out during their match."My people know I'm here," she said, returning to her usual calm demeanor and standing.

"What?" 

Bra and Trunks saw their father's surprised look and ran over to see what was up.They came just in time to hear what Chryseis had to say next.

"They don't know I'm training anybody, but they found out I'd faked my death," Chryseis explained."A friend of mine, Xander, helped me escape, he was the only one who knew..."

"He betrayed you," Vegeta stated coldly.

Chryseis shook her head sharply."He would never betray me!"She snapped."The bastards are holding him hostage. They know I can see. They're using him as bait."

"You can't be thinking about going back!" Vegeta snapped.

"I don't leave friends to die!" Chryseis retorted. 

Vegeta frowned. "So you will get yourself killed instead?" He snorted."I thought you were smarter than that."

"Of course I'm not!"

"What? Not going to get yourself killed or not smarter?"

Chryseis glared."Not going to get myself killed! I can't just do sit on my hands, though. I owe Xander..."

"You owe him nothing." Vegeta's voice was harsh."We have a mission, girl.If you want to give up now and go home to save this 'friend' of yours go ahead, but I wouldn't if I were you."

"Maybe," Chryseis said, ignoring Vegeta, "maybe I can free him without getting caught..."

"That's a dangerous way of thinking, girl. Use your head! They've probably set an ambush for you.All you'll do is waste your life and ruin our chances of winning against your world."

"Is that all you can think about?" Chryseis snarled.Vegeta took a step back, surprised."Is this world the only world that has any importance?Because it's you're world?Well let me tell you, buddy-boy, I have a duty to my world just like you have a duty to yours. "

"And if you want to be able to do that duty you can't run into the hands of the enemy!" Vegeta returned sharply."Do you think that you will be able to help your world if you're dead?"

Chryseis said nothing.

"Answer me!"

"No," Chryseis said after a long pause.

"Good, now stop sulking like a child.We have training to do."

Chryseis bit back a retort and leapt lightly into air, hovering a few feet above the ground. 

"Don't order me around," she said coldly. 

Vegeta rose to meet her above the lawn."I'll do whatever I have to do to get the job done," he said matching her icy tone.

Chryseis response was an incoherent roar.The two combatants flew toward each other.

They sparred until the sun had set and they dragged themselves, bleeding and bruised, back into 

the house for dinner.The children had gone in a few hours before and Bra was already asleep in bed.Trunks was working on his math homework in the living room.

Bulma met them at the kitchen table with raised eyebrows and a cold meal.She explained to them, carefully keeping her voice calm, that unless they ate with everybody else a cold meal was all they could expect.Vegeta didn't really care one way or the other; to him food was food no matter what the temperature.He dug in immediately and then asked for more.Chryseis on the other hand seemed to pick at her food, though she assured Bulma that the meal tasted fine.

"I'm just not hungry," Chryseis said, putting her fork down on her plate.She stood up."I'm tired.I'll see you in the morning," she said as she turned and walked out of the kitchen and up to her room.

Bulma frowned."Bullshit she's not hungry," she muttered. She turned a cold stare on Vegeta."What's bugging her?"

"I don't know what's wrong with her, woman, your guess is as good as mine," Vegeta grumped.

"What happened out there?"

Vegeta sighed realizing Bulma wouldn't be satisfied until she got some answers."We were sparring and she blanked out. Then she said that the rulers in her dimension were threatening a friend of hers..."

"I didn't know she had any friends," Bulma cut in.

Vegeta shrugged."Neither did I.This friend was supposed to be the bait in trap for her, I think.We argued over whether or not she should go back and rescue the fool until I reminded her of her responsibilities."

"I didn't know she had any friends," Bulma repeated, this revelation still stunning her to the core."You would think she would have said something."

Vegeta smirked."Well it's not like we do much talking.We're both mainly concerned with training."

Bulma nodded slowly.Vegeta was right, Chryseis didn't really talk about her home dimension a lot, and when she did all she talked about was the people she had battled, or the people she wanted to battle."Is this friend of hers a guy or a girl?" Bulma asked after a long pause.

Vegeta frowned.Why did that matter...? "A man."

"Ah!" Bulma exclaimed. "Now I understand!"

"What do you mean?" Vegeta demanded.

"Obviously this guy is her boyfriend, duh," Bulma said.

"Where in the world would she get a boyfriend?"

Bulma shook her head in disbelief."Are you the only one who has failed to noticed that Chryseis is an attractive young woman?"

Vegeta replied testily, "Chryseis is a warrior."

"And what exactly does that have to do with anything?" Bulma inquired.

"She didn't have the time to be chasing after men like some fool girl.Haven't you paid attention when she talks about her training?When in between all those fights would she find a boyfriend?Not to mention the fact that she spent most of her time the last few years being studied like a lab rat.Warriors like Chryseis don't have time for romantic entanglements."

"We found time," Bulma pointed out.

"That's a completely different situation," Vegeta reminded her."If she had a man back in 

her world she would have said something before now.She may not talk much about her world except to tell me about her fights, but she still mentions her adoptive father, and a few other people she knew, like the scientists that were developing that machine based on her power."

"She might not have wanted to mention it," Bulma said."She looks up to you a whole lot, Vegeta.She might have though you'd think her weak if she had a lover."

"Nonsense," Vegeta disagreed.

Bulma gave him her patented 'are you sure about that' look."At any rate we'll never figure this out unless we ask her, and right now she's not in the mood to answer questions."

Vegeta grunted. "She's probably trying to figure out a way to save that guy before midnight without getting caught."

"What happens at midnight?" Bulma asked.

"The guy gets executed unless she returns," Vegeta said.

"They're gonna kill him?" 

"No, executed in this case means treat him to a romantic dinner and a long walk on the 

beach in the moonlight," Vegeta replied sarcastically."Of course they're going to kill him, 

woman, he's a traitor as far as they're concerned."

Bulma glanced at her watch."Three hours..." she murmured,"she shouldn't be alone right now."

"She's tougher than you give her credit for, she'll be fine."

"I don't know, I think we'd better keep an eye on her."

Vegeta shook his head."You'll just irritate her."

"Still, I want you just to sort of make sure she doesn't do anything foolish, okay?She's a nice girl and I don't want to see her get hurt."

Vegeta replied, "Fine woman, have it your way.I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

The hours moved by like molasses in January.Bulma shooed Trunks off to bed at ten, and checked on Bra about the same time.Once satisfied that the kids were asleep Vegeta and Bulma started what was more or less a vigil in the kitchen, drinking coffee and snacking as was their want, all the time keeping an eye out in case Chryseis left her room and paying attention to noises from upstairs.Chryseis bedroom was directly above the living room, and from where they sat at the kitchen table Vegeta and Bulma could hear her pacing back and forth.Every once and a while Chryseis would stop her pacing and stand still or sit down, but this quiet only lasted a few seconds and then she could be heard pacing again.

"She'll wear a hole in the floor if she keeps this up," Bulma commented, taking a sip of her coffee.She looked at her watch for the umpteenth time that hour."Eleven thirty-seven," she said solemnly, "It's almost time."

Vegeta grunted and nodded. His hearing was far more acute that Bulma's so he could hear more than Chryseis pacing; he could hear her sobbing too.It bothered him, not necessarily because he thought it weak of her to cry, though it did strike him as a bit soft, but more because it was completely out character for the petite blonde girl that had become his sparring partner, student and teacher. 

It was just past eleven forty when the sound of breaking glass upstairs signaled that Chryseis had left her room through the window.Alarmed Bulma and Vegeta hurried upstairs Trunks and Bra had woken up as well and were both standing in the hallway, sleepy-eyed but alert.Both children looked ready to fight, although it was a little comical to see the serious expression on Bra's face, and then the ragged blanky clutched in her hand and the teddy bear stowed under her arm. 

"What's goin' on, Daddy?"Bra asked, looking up at her father.

Vegeta opened the door to Chryseis room, it was unlocked, and stepped in.One of the windows was broken, and Chryseis was not there.Vegeta reached out to find Chryseis power level and found her heading south at a high speed.

"What's goin' on?" Bra asked again.

"Go back to bed honey, it's nothing," Bulma said, ushering the little girl back to her room."You too, Trunks," she added, noticing how the boy was staring wide-eyed at the broken window and empty room.

Vegeta turned and headed down the stairs, keeping track of where Chryseis was at all times.Bulma caught up to him just as he was heading out the door. 

"I can't let her go back to her dimension," Vegeta said quietly.

Bulma nodded, and Vegeta left the house, going through the already broken window.He flew south, following Chryseis' ki signature.Somewhere, not far from the Capsule Corp compound, on top of a tall hill, Chryseis stopped.Vegeta landed nearby a few moments later and saw her collapsed on the ground, her head in her hands.Uncertainly, Vegeta approached, stretching his arm out.He put one hand on her shoulder and shook her roughly, with the intent of making sure she knew he was there, but something strange happened.

_Vegeta could see, in his mind's eye the image of a man, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, not overly tall, but definitely of above average height, chained to a stone platform in the center of an open area, most likely a city square.The man's face was lit by the city lights and also by bright spotlights. A sea of people surrounded the man; all dressed in long cloaks similar to Chryseis', some marked with the insignia of their family.One man, old and sour looking, who did not wear a cloak, but rather an overly embroidered doublet, stepped up to where the prisoner was chained and took a paper out of his cloak, unfolded it, and read it out loud. _

_"Xander, Son of Rowan, you have been convicted of high treason against the King and the Nobility.You have been sentenced to die at midnight tonight unless your fellow conspirator gives herself up to the King's Royal Guard before your execution.Do you have anything to say? You know that your woman can hear you. She knows about this, do you wish to plead to her?_

_Xander looked up at his captor and said, "I have nothing to say to all those gathered here except to tell them that they are all disgusting trash, His Royal Highness the King included.To Chryseis I have nothing to say either, she knows I would rather die than endanger her and she would respect my wishes.She'll never come here, she's smarter than that, and I'll be damned to the worst of the Hells if she isn't a better person than all of you combined." Xander spat at the man standing before him._

_"You believe all the lies you want to, but your little slut will die. If not tonight, she will _

_when our army invades the world she's trying to protect," snarled the older man quietly to Xander.He turned out to the crowd of people."The prisoner insults us and defends the honor of his whore, the coward that will not come to save him!" he proclaimed loudly. _

_The crowd booed savagely at Xander, and a few pelted him with stones._

_Then it was midnight, and a man armed with a long-handled barbaric-looking ax approached the chained Xander.Two other men came up to the platform and held the struggling young man down._

_"Any last words, Xander de Rowan?" the executioner asked._

_Xander nodded."Wherever you are, Chryseis," he called loudly, his voice hoarse. "I love you! I will always love you!Never doubt that!" He stopped fighting against the men holding him down and bared his neck to the executioner's ax._

_The executioner raised the deadly blade, and swung downward with all his might.The crowd roared deafeningly, but one more immediate sound drowned the shouts of the crowd out... _

Chryseis struggled to her feet, screaming at the top of her lungs as the connection between the two dimensions broke; she had lost her concentration.She bellowed like a raging monster, hurting Vegeta's ears.Vegeta gripped her shoulder hard and shook her sharply, trying to make her come to her senses.Chryseis paid him no head.A portal opened up in front of them, a long tunnel of blackness, and Chryseis tried to make her way toward it, trying to get back to her dimension, but Vegeta held her back, throwing one arm around her waist to pin her arms down and putting his other arm around her shoulders.

"Damn you let me go to him!Let me go!"Chryseis snarled, acknowledging Vegeta for the first time.

"He's dead, damn it, it's too late!"Vegeta shouted, trying to get through to her.

Chryseis lost her control of the dimensional portal and it closed up just as quickly as it had appeared."No, I have to go!" she screamed."Let me go!" an aura of power was crackling around her, causing her hair to fly up and around her face."I have to go to him!" she shouted again.

"You can't do anything now, he's dead!" Vegeta shouted back, straining to be heard over 

the crackle of power."Damn it girl, calm down!"

But Chryseis would not listen.The aura around her turned golden, flashing and flickering in the dark, moon-less night.Struggling hard to keep Chryseis from squirming out of his grasp, Vegeta didn't notice this golden aura for a long time, and when he did, he nearly let go of Chryseis in shock.

"I have to help him!" Chryseis shouted again, "It's all my fault! _It's all my fault!_" And then she was transformed.Her blonde hair turned luminous gold, and her blue eyes turned a bright green.She seethed with rage-born power.

Knowing that he would be unable to hold onto Chryseis for much longer Vegeta used Suppression on her, forcing her power level down.She was too enraged to fight it.The golden aura flickered and died, her hair fell around her shoulders and returned to its natural blonde, and her eyes were once again pale blue.She slumped in Vegeta's grasp, breathing hard, and shaking.Carefully Vegeta lowered both of them to the ground, never letting go of Chryseis.He eased off on his Suppression, and eventually released it entirely.Chryseis lay as limp as a rag doll sprawled across Vegeta's lap.Tears were rolling down her cheeks and her body was wracked with sobs.

"Why didn't you let me go?" Chryseis whispered after a long time, grief staining her voice with vulnerability and pure helplessness."You should have let me go."

Vegeta loosened his grip and supported her with one arm; she wasn't going anywhere, there was no need to restrain he anymore."You would have died.It would have been a foolish waste of your life.Xander is dead," those words rang harsh even to Vegeta's ears and he almost regretted them, "but you live.You must live, Chryseis, you have a responsibility to this world now.The people of this planet, of this dimension, need you alive."

There was a long pause, the silence only broken by the light breeze that blew and Chryseis sobs.Eventually Chryseis spoke again."You must think I'm weak," she whispered.Then she passed out, exhausted by her grief. 

Vegeta stood up, cradling Chryseis like a baby in his arms."You're not weak," he murmured."You're stronger now than ever before." He took off, heading back toward Capsule Corp. He landed and knocked on the door with his foot, unable to get the door himself because he was holding Chryseis.

Bulma made her way to the door and opened it for Vegeta."Is she okay?" she asked, seeing Vegeta carrying Chryseis, who was still unconscious and limp.

"She'll be fine," Vegeta muttered.

Bulma nodded.

Vegeta went up the stairs and deposited Chryseis in her bed, pulling the covers up over her so that she wouldn't get cold.He felt a great deal of sympathy for her, though he considered sympathy to be a weakness; one of Kakarott's weaknesses.He left the room, giving Chryseis one last glance, and went back downstairs.Bulma was sitting on the living room couch, a cup of coffee in her hands.Vegeta sat down next to her and sighed loudly.

"What was that for?" Bulma asked, a little amused.

Vegeta shrugged.

"So, what's up with Chryseis?What happened?"

Vegeta paused for a while."You were right. Chryseis was in love with that man, and he loved her.I caught up with her on top of a hill somewhere south of here. I touched her shoulder to get her attention and got a good long look at what was going on back in her dimension."

"You saw everything?" Bulma inquired, shocked.

"Saw, heard, hell, I could practically smell them all," Vegeta answered. He paused again. "This Xander, he was a brave man.When he died I had to restrain Chryseis so that she wouldn't cross into her own dimension and get herself killed after it was all over."He paused, trying to find the right words."In a way though, it's a good thing this all happened."

Bulma looked at him, her eyebrows raised.

"She finally did it, Bulma; she's a Super Saiyan now.I don't even know if she knows yet."

"She got so mad at her people that she became a Super Saiyan?"Bulma asked.

Vegeta shook his head."She... she stood there and placed the blame for her lover's death squarely on her own shoulders.She said it loud and clear right before she changed, 'Its all my fault!'.I think if I hadn't used Suppression on her she would have torn herself apart in her fury.Then she just... went limp and started crying like a child."

Bulma looked concerned."I hope she's okay, poor girl."


	4. Fighting Despair

The next morning Vegeta decided not to bother Chryseis and went out to train with just Trunks and Bra.He had to admit that his two children were getting very good at Suppression, 

Trunks was almost at a level where he could begin applying Suppression while he was sparring, and Bra was exceptionally good at Suppressing.The little girl had insisted that she didn't want to just learn how to make others weak; she wanted to become stronger too, so Vegeta had begun to give her a little instruction in ki manipulation.Praise from Vegeta was limited, but he did make sure his daughter knew he approved of her learning to fight, he knew she would never be as strong as he himself was, or Trunks for that matter, but she could still cause any human to call mercy.That though made Vegeta smile inwardly; he pictured Bra putting that little bald runt Krillin in a headlock, or Kakarott's granddaughter Pan for that matter.

Sometime around noon Bulma called them all in for lunch.Bulma watched with a mix of 

horror and amusement as her two children came close to matching their father in appetite.She sighed loudly as Trunks wiped his mouth on his sleeve and then leaned back in his chair, one hand resting on his distended belly.The little boy burped loudly, followed by his little sister and lastly Vegeta.It was like a big belching chorus, and Bulma couldn't decide whether it was disgusting or funny.

"That was good Mama," Bra said, a big, happy, 'I'm full' grin spreading across her face.

Trunks and Vegeta grunted their agreement.

"All right, twerps, get back out there, I'll be out in a minute," Vegeta said, shooing the kids back outside.

Bra and Trunks hopped down from their chairs and raced out the front door; they could 

be heard out the kitchen window as they teased one another.

"You keep eating like that, Bra and you'll get as fat as Yajirobe!" 

"What do you mean if I keep eating like that?You ate more than I did!"

"Yeah, well I'm bigger and stronger than you!"

"Not for long!"

Vegeta stood up, rotating his shoulders to work out a kink that had settled in while he ate. He started for the door, but Bulma stopped him.

"Hey," she called quietly, trying not to be overheard.

"What is it, woman?" Vegeta asked, his brief words betrayed by the affection in his voice.

"I'm worried about Chryseis, she hasn't come out of her room all day, and she won't eat anything," Bulma explained."She's just been sitting up there, and I would swear she's crying."

Vegeta shrugged."What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"I don't know, talk to her.She listens to you."

"She has to deal with this her own way."

"But in the mean time we can't just let her sit in her room and waste away!" Bulma protested. 

Damn it, Vegeta thought, I hate it when she has a point."All right!" He exclaimed irritably."All right! I'll go talk to her. I can see that all you'll do is pester me until you get your way anyhow."

Bulma smiled and kissed him on the cheek."I'm really grateful for this," she murmured in his ear. "I'm going for groceries, see you in a bit." Still smiling Bulma waved and left the kitchen.

Vegeta sighed loudly as his wife disappeared out the kitchen door, and thought about theunpleasant and difficult job ahead of him.How in the world was he supposed to cheer anyone up?It wasn't supposed to be his job to cheer people up that was somebody else's job.Exactly who that somebody was he didn't know, all he knew was that it wasn't him. Reluctantly he trudged up the stairs and knocked on the door to Chryseis room.There was no answer so he put his ear to the door to see if Chryseis was awake.He heard her crying quietly, probably from her bed. Deciding to risk a look inside, he opened the door and peeked in.

As he had suspected, Chryseis was curled up on her bed, her knees tucked up to her chin and her long blonde hair spread out around her.Chryseis looked up as Vegeta entered the room, her face wet and red with crying and her eyes bloodshot.She looked horrible, which was exactly how she felt. 

"What d'you want?" she asked, wiping her face off with her blanket, as if that could hide the signs that she had been crying in her room since she had woken up that morning.

"Come on girl, get up.We've got stuff to do." Vegeta said, trying to take all the pity out of his voice.He knew she would resent that.

"What d'you mean?" Chryseis asked, sitting up.Had he seen her crying?Did he know?How could he know? If he knew... Immediately Chryseis felt her stomach plunge.He must think I'm a weak coward, she thought.

"I mean I want you to get up off you butt and train!Are you dense?" There was a large gray area between pity and callousness, but Vegeta couldn't seem to find it to save himself.

Chryseis' eyes widened. He does think I'm weak!He hates me for it! She thought frantically.

"Don't give me that look!" Oh boy, this isn't working, Vegeta thought.Damn you Bulma, I'm not good at this kind of stuff!He said to Chryseis, "You just became a Super Saiyan in five years less than it took me, so suck it up!"

That shocked Chryseis.She hadn't even guessed. "I... I really did?" 

"I wouldn't lie," Vegeta returned."But just becoming a Super Saiyan isn't enough.You must learn some control.Our deal was that you would train me if I trained you.You've already done your job, now it's my turn."

Chryseis took a deep breath and tried to assimilate this new information."Okay," Chryseis said softly."I see your point."

Vegeta sighed quietly in relief. That had gone a whole lot better than he though it would."Good," he said gruffly."Now get up and get into your training clothes so we can do some sparring.Kakarott and his brats will probably be around sometime today and they'll want to see your new power, so you need to be sure you can access it when you have to.I don't want you embarrassing me."He turned and left quickly, adding as he went out the door, "I expect to see you outside in three minutes."

Chryseis nodded slid nimbly off her bed and stood up.She stood in front of her bedroom mirror and gave herself an appraising look.She didn't feel any different, except for that hollow spot in her heart, the one caused by Xander's death.

She didn't want to think about that.

Had she really done it?Had she really become a Super Saiyan?Vegeta had said she did, and she trusted him, but could it really be true?She wiped the last of her tears out of her eyes and frowned at her reflection.She couldn't believe she had let Vegeta see her like this.She'd have to start all over from the beginning and regain his respect.She sighed and ran her fingers through her matted hair then brushed off her jumpsuit.She looked like hell.

On the way outside she stopped in the bathroom and splashed a little cold water on her face to wash a little of the tear-grime off her cheeks; trying to remove all the evidence of her weakness.Once again she stopped and looked at her reflection in the mirror and shook her head.She looked the same as always, though albeit tired and red eyed from crying, how could she be a Super Saiyan?Looking down at her feet in shame, she turned around and left the house. 

Vegeta was standing outside, his arms crossed over his chest, looking impatient."It's been more than three minutes," he said.

"Sorry," Chryseis mumbled. 

Well now there was a change, Vegeta thought, Chryseis never apologized for anything 

unless it was a severe transgression or she was being sarcastic, and she was far from sarcastic 

and he knew she didn't consider being a little late a severe transgression."Humph," he grunted.

"Where shall we start?" Chryseis asked, still looking at her feet.

Vegeta frowned.Something was very, very wrong with Chryseis."Well, you could start by looking at me, and not the ground, that is unless you've found something particularly interesting about your shoes," he said, trying to get her to show some of her usual fiery spirit.All Chryseis did was quickly obey him.There was a hurt look on her face and Vegeta resisted the

urge to wince.He knew she was hurting, but he knew she would hate it if he mollycoddled her._Just treat her like everything's normal, _he thought, _she'll snap out of it._

Trunks and Bra made their way over to watch their father and their teacher, both looking interested.There was a long pause in which nobody said or did anything.

Finally, getting a little annoyed, Vegeta snapped, "Well, are we just going to stand here or are we going to spar?Power up, girl!"

Chryseis looked a little shocked, but quickly schooled her features back to blandness."You might want to back away a little," she mumbled to Trunks and Bra.The two children dutifully obeyed her and Chryseis reached into herself to access her power.She opened up to her maximum, at least what her maximum was when she wasn't a Super Saiyan, then paused."Where do I go from here?How do I trigger the transformation?" she asked.

Vegeta sighed impatiently."Think about whatever made enraged you enough to trigger the first transformation, and let that rage fuel your power," he said.

Chryseis nodded and closed her eyes.Somewhere in her mind, pushed to the very back where it couldn't be easily prodded, was the gaping psychic wound caused by Xander's death, and with it was the anger Chryseis felt toward herself for being an instrument in Xander's death.Cautiously she poked that open wound, irritating it, waking it, bringing that pain to the front of her mind, and thereby releasing the power that was sealed in that grief and rage.The familiar golden aura formed around her, flickering and pale at first then stronger as all her emotional dams broke down.Her hair turned gold and flared up around her, like a monstrouscorona, and when she opened her eyes they were turquoise-green.

Trunks and Bra stared wide-eyed at their young mentor, etching the look of barely restrained rage on her features into their memory.Trunks gasped. _She's beautiful, _he thought, _how come he had never noticed how beautiful she was?_Maybe that sudden transformation, that sudden new power gave him more respect for her than he had ever felt before, giving her a regal look, taking away the girlish innocence that her eyes, even when she was angry or sparring with Vegeta, always contained.Bra made a noise of astonishment as well, seeing past the anger and straight into the grief that Chryseis was feeling._So sad, _the little girl thought. 

Vegeta was impressed, though he didn't show it.His face remained as bland as ever, with perhaps only the slightest trace of a proud smirk gracing his lips.

Chryseis inhaled sharply, and a smirk spread across her face."I really did it," she said, in a low, pleased voice."I really am a Super Saiyan!"

"You didn't believe me?"Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"No, I... I believed you... I just..." Chryseis stumbled, her words tripping over themselves to get off her tongue."It feels... invigorating.I... I... Fight me, Vegeta, I want to test this power!"

"Don't use Suppression in this form. Not until you've got your emotions under complete control at any rate," Vegeta said, powering up as well."You should know I'm not going to go easy on you, I'm going to use my full power," he added, passing Super Saiyan and going into Super Saiyan two.

Chryseis nodded."I would expect no less.Let's keep this to a no ki-blast fight though, hand to hand will be sufficient to test out my new power."

It was Vegeta's turn to nod."Ready?" he asked, setting himself.

"Ready," Chryseis confirmed, following Vegeta's example.

"Begin!"

It was a short, violent fight.Vegeta won in the end, as both combatants and both onlookers had suspected.After all Vegeta had achieved a higher level of Super Saiyan than Chryseis, and Chryseis was not using Suppression to knock him down to her level.However, Chryseis did put up a good fight.She successfully blocked a number of Vegeta's shots, and hit him a few times as well.Somewhere in the middle of the fight, Bulma returned, looking up in surprise as Chryseis went flying over the roof of her car, courtesy of a kick from Vegeta. 

_Oh good,_ Bulma though to herself, _he managed to get her out of her room, hopefully they won't beat each other up too badly._The fight continued with Chryseis recovering a few seconds before she slammed into the ground, and then charging Vegeta straight on.She attempted to knock his legs out from under him, but he moved too quickly, and pinned her to the ground.Trunks counted down from ten, and declared his father the winner.

Vegeta let Chryseis up, a self-satisfied smirk on his face."You did a good job for going against someone so obviously stronger than you," he said, powering down.That was high praise from Vegeta.He worked a kink out of his shoulder and stuck his hand out roughly.

Chryseis stood up, powered down, nodded and clasped Vegeta's hand in her own, shaking it with as much roughness as Vegeta had offered it with."Thanks," she panted, releasing her grip. She cracked her back and worked a few kinks out of her own shoulders."I need a good beating 

now and then."

"And I'm always glad to beat you," Vegeta said, his smirk growing.

Chryseis almost followed Vegeta's example by smirking herself, but a look of sadness crossed her face and she returned to blandness.

Vegeta was going to try to cheer Chryseis up again when he sensed several large powers coming from the west."Oh great," he muttered, "of all the many things I could have been right about it had to be that one."

"What?" Chryseis asked.

Vegeta grimaced."You remember what I said about Kakarott and his spawn showing up?"

Chryseis nodded.

"Well, here they are," Vegeta said, pointing to a pack of specks in the sky behind Chryseis.He took another look. "Oh and look, they brought friends!" He added in a dully sarcastic voice. 

Chryseis turned and looked just as Goku and the rest of the Z fighters, with a few family members and a few friends, landed _en masse_ on the lawn.She nearly fell over when she was mobbed by the warriors.

Wisely, Vegeta got out of the crush before he got caught up in it too.

"Congratulations!" Goku crowed, patting Chryseis on the back a bit roughly."When we felt you transform last night Goten and I were about to go give you a party then and there, but Chi Chiconvinced us that it was too late at night."He gave her a wide grin.

Everyone else was grinning too.

"Good job, Chryseis!Wow, Trunks was right... you do look good when you're sweaty..."

"Goten!"

"What mom? It's true!"

"Sorry I doubted you the first time we met, Chryseis.You did well," said Gohan proffering his hand."Can we call it a truce?"

Chryseis accepted his handshake and nodded."Truce," she confirmed.

Videl and Gohan's daughter Pan, a pretty child a year older than Bra, both gave Chryseis their best wishes.

"You wanna spar sometime?" Pan asked, beaming.

The nest to greet Chryseis was Yamcha, who she remembered from several weeks before when all the Z fighters came to see if they had any chance of learning suppression.The scarred fighter smiled kindly and said, "Well, looks like I'm one more back on the list of the universe's best.A prettier lady couldn't have done it though.Congrats, Chryseis."

Krillin, flanked by his wife, the eternally lovely Eighteen, and his young daughter, Marron, each shook Chryseis hand. 

"Man, this is nuts!" Krillin exclaimed good-naturedly."Not so long ago I didn't even know what a Super Saiyan was, now you guys are popping out of the woodwork!" He laughed to show he meant it all in good humor.

Eighteen nodded to Chryseis."Good to see another woman.Someone has to keep these men from going completely macho on us."

The parade of people continued with Tien and Chaotzu.The two of them had not come to be tested so Chryseis had never met them before.

"Pleased to meet you," Chaotzu said, putting out one small, white hand. 

"Likewise," Chryseis said she eyed the tiny fighter carefully."I seem to remember... Come see me later... Chaotzu is it?You might have the skill... and so might you," she finished, speaking to Tien.

"Hello," Tien said."Congratulations, it's not everyday one becomes one of the most powerful fighters in the universe."

"Thank you," replied Chryseis. "When Chaotzu comes to talk later I want to talk to you as well.You two didn't make it to be tested and I think you might be able to use Suppression."

Both warriors nodded and promised to see Chryseis later.

Another person who hadn't come to be tested was Piccolo.Chryseis had never seen a Namekian before and she took two big steps back when Piccolo walked up to her and said, "Good job."

"H... Hi," Chryseis squeaked, staring up at the tall green alien.

Piccolo grunted and went off to find Gohan.

The last person to say hello, though not for lack of trying, was Master Roshi.The old martial arts master smiled widely when he saw Chryseis and shook her hand ecstatically.Chryseis appreciated the handshake and the congratulations, however when Roshi decided to try and pinch Chryseis bottom, he got his hand smacked. Roshi shrugged and went to go find something else to do.

The party, thankfully, wasn't nearly as bad as Chryseis had worried that it might be.However, that didn't mean it was fun.Chryseis thanked whatever gods there were in this dimension for the fact that Goku had brought alcoholic drinks -beer, wine, and even a bottle of champagne- because she felt that by the end of the evening she was going to need something stronger than a soda.

One more thing she was glad about was the fact that no one had asked her exactly what 

had triggered her transformation,although Master Roshi suggested, rubbing his hand where Chryseis had grabbed him, that someone might have been trying to pinch her bottom.A few other theories floated around, but only Tien even came close with the idea that someone Chryseis cared about had died.Everyone else shot that thought down pretty quickly; Chryseis didn't seem to care about anything other than fighting and becoming more powerful.The rest of the theories were pretty far out and way off the mark.

The one really good thing about the party was that it took Chryseis' mind of Xander and let her forget her guilt, though only for a few hours.Maybe it was the fact that there was so much going on that she didn't have time to think about anything, or maybe it was all the kind smiles that were directed toward her and the happy calls of "Welcome to the club!" All in all it wasn't bad, though it could have been better.

Chryseis extricated herself from a conversation with Chi Chi, Goku's talkative, overprotective, but otherwise kind wife, and made her way over to the cooler.The party was staged mainly outdoors and inside the Capsule Corp garden dome.The large cooler with all the drinks was sitting in the shade of a nearby tree.Chryseis opened the cooler and retrieved a beer for herself.

As she started to shut the cooler, Vegeta called out, "Get one for me."

Chryseis sighed and grabbed another beer.She turned and started walking toward where Vegeta was standing, when Chi Chi called to Chryseis from another part of the lawn.

"Do you want a hamburger or a hot dog!"

"Both!"Chryseis replied, continuing her forward motion as she looked at Chi Chi.Not looking where she was going, Chryseis bumped into someone."Oh, I'm sorry..." her voice trailed off as she saw whom she had knocked into: Piccolo. She made a small, uncharacteristic, noise of terror and took a few steps back before regaining her composure.That Namek was always there when she wasn't looking.

Piccolo gave her a mildly annoyed glare. "You're kind of short aren't you?"

Chryseis turned red."Kind of green aren't you?" she retorted.Sure, Piccolo towered over her, but he didn't have to remind her of that fact, she found it glaringly obvious as it was.

Piccolo smirked."Say hi to Prince Lawn Dart for me," he said as he walked off.

Vegeta was smirking as Chryseis handed him his beer."Did the Namek scare you?" he asked in mock concern.

"Oh shove it. I've never seen a Namek up close once before, today might I remind you, and I was surprised.They're all extinct in my dimension," Chryseis said.She frowned."A pity too, they were wiped out for good a few years before I was able to look into this world.Boy, were the higher-ups pissed when they heard that the Nameks could create the Dragonballs!" she laughed bitterly."Though that did explain a few things.A little before the rulers in my dimension decided to eliminate the Nameks once and for all, one Namek, a warrior, appeared and he had a great deal of power.He was somehow able to resist Suppression and he killed a number of our better warriors before the King stepped in and killed him.I came to suspect after, I learned about this dimension, that that Namek had somehow accessed a set of Dragonballs and had wished to be immune to Suppression.Too bad for him that our King does not rule based only on his Suppression abilities." 

Vegeta grinned maliciously as he pictured a nameless king spluttering in rage as he was told that he'd annihilated a race that could have provided him with untold power."Heh, that must have been a bad day to be a messenger, when the King found out that is."

At that point Bulma walked over to them, a cross look on her face and her hands resting on her hips."You two are so predictable!" she exclaimed, shooing them toward the rest of the people."This is a party P-A-R-T-Y, and the purpose of parties is to mingle, so go mingle!"She gave them one final shove toward the other partygoers.

"Well, it seems we've been given a message," Chryseis remarked somewhat sarcastically."You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Vegeta replied.

"Okay then, let's commence 'Operation Mingle'," Chryseis said with a sardonic smirk.

The mingling began when Chryseis caught up to Tien and Chaotzu and sat them down to test them for Suppression ability.Everyone gathered 'round as Chryseis set up the equipment and hooked up first Tien and then Chaotzu.Both fighters showed talent for Suppression, Chaotzu in particular. 

"It must be because of your telepathic and telekinetic abilities," Tien said to his friend.

The only one more shocked about this new development than Tien or Chaotzu was Vegeta, who muttered."Surprise, surprise, mime-boy and the triclops can be useful."

He received a glare from Bulma for that.

"You're old to begin Suppression training," Chryseis was saying to her two new recruits, "but if you're willing to take orders from me and not question them I would be glad to have your assistance in the battle ahead." 

"To defend Earth," Tien stated gravely,"I'll take orders from just about anyone."

"I'm with Tien," Chaotzu agreed.

A chance to be useful again was another motivating reason behind the two warriors' agreement with Chryseis.It had been a long, long time since Tien had fought Goku to a standstill at the World Martial Art's Tournament all those years ago, and the gap between the Saiyan's power and that of the three-eyed warrior's had only grown.Chaotzu, whose strength had always lain more in his mental techniques than his physical ones, was also ready for the chance to get stronger and learn a new technique.The small, pale, faced emperor had not even bothered to attend the Cell Games almost a decade and a half ago because he had known himself to be too weak.Now maybe he could redeem himself. 

The party became a lot more subdued, and to Chryseis' mind a lot more pleasant, as the night went on.When the sun had set everybody went inside and chatted quietly or played cards.Goku, Gohan, Bulma and Krillin were sitting on the floor in the living room playing penny ante poker, and Chryseis was watching them with a distracted interest while she sipped her second beer.

"Hah!" Bulma exclaimed from directly in front of Chryseis, "I win again boys!"

"Man, this is nuts!" Krillin said morosely, putting his hand of cards down, a pair of threes ace high was all he had,"she must be cheating." He dealt out another hand of cards.

Vegeta was watching from the corner opposite Chryseis, swirling the dregs in the bottom of his bottle.He walked over, sat down on the couch and peered over Bulma's shoulder."Heh!" he muttered, smirking.He leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head.

"So, how's she doing?" Chryseis asked.

"Huh?"

"I have no clue as to how this game is played, so, how's she doing?"

"To put it bluntly she's burying them," Vegeta answered.

"Ah... is this some sort of party tradition in this dimension?" 

Vegeta shrugged."I don't know.I usually avoid these things."

"Well, if it is a tradition it's a silly one," Chryseis said.

"I agree wholeheartedly.Now, before I came to here there were some great traditions.Mostly battle traditions; drinking a glass of whatever liquor you had on hand for every kill you made, or in some cases, every thousand or ten thousand kills."Vegeta laughed harshly."Damn, one night Nappa got stumbling drunk after two glasses of some really awful homemade ale off this one planet.It was a good thing we didn't have a mission the next morning."

"Oh, and what did this stuff do to you?"

"Me? Hah! I saw Nappa drink it and avoided it. He made a great guinea pig."

Chryseis threw back her head and laughed.

Vegeta sat up."The liquor here is nothing compared to what we had back then." He held his bottle up and drained the last liquid from it."I'm willing to bet I could drink a whole case of this stuff and still be in complete control of my senses."

"Well, you got me beat there, I'm not woozy yet, but I'd say another bottle of this stuff and I'd be getting dizzy," Chryseis said."Traditions back in my world also usually involved large quantities of intoxicants.They were battle traditions too."

"Oh?" Vegeta asked.Chryseis did not very often talk about her world and when she did he listened.

"Oh yeah," Chryseis confirmed."I mean we had some great battles; all out wars between sector governments.The King let it happen because it prevented people from teaming up against him.I was in my first battle at the age of six, but only on the sideline Suppressing the enemy.I thought it was great fun, at least until afterward when we had to bury the dead.Then after that it went back to being fun again 'cause we had a party, kind of like what you guys did, only we sang too."

Vegeta frowned, picturing an entire army of half drunken soldiers, all of them looking like Chryseis, singing some god-awful song.Then he pictured an entire army of half drunken Saiyans singing some god-awful song and shuddered slightly."It's a good thing we didn't have any singing," he said.

"We always started off with a song to the soldiers we'd lost," Chryseis said softly.She hummed a few notes, then sang very quietly:

_"We will fight on,_

_though you are gone_

_from our sides,_

_our brothers in soul,_

_our comrades in arms._

_We will fight on_

_despite torn flesh and broken bone._

_We will fight on,_

_for your honor and for our own._

_In the warrior's paradise_

_look down and bless my blade,_

_for my next strike will rend_

_the flesh of he who slew you._

_My lost comrade, my brother,_

_I fight on for you._

_We will fight on,_

_though you are gone_

_from our sides,_

_our brothers in soul,_

_our comrades in arms."_

She finished the last haunting note, and returned to silence. 

Vegeta raised an eyebrow.So another side of the multifaceted Chryseis was illuminated; she had a decent singing voice, sort of dusky and dark which emphasized the dark words of the song itself and the melody.He was no music critic,but on some level he connected to what the words were conveying, the sort of honor and pride he himself felt, and the need to avenge one's fallen comrades.All he said though was, "Interesting." 

Chryseis replied, "The song is very, very old.It's origins are many dimensions back in the history of my people and the first record of it is ten thousand years old, but even in those ancient texts it was described as a song of antiquity." She frowned."I'll have no one to sing that for me when I die in battle.I have lost my people."Chryseis looked at him."And I will die in battle," she added as if she was afraid he would question her."I'll have it no other way.Warriors like yourself and I do not die peacefully in our sleep, we die in battle, fighting until out last breath." She sneered."We do not grow old and retreat to some protected paradise to wile away our years in games and rest, like that old man who was Goku's first martial arts master, we fight.I will die in battle, mark my words, and when I do my only grief is that I will never hear our warrior's song from wherever I go to."

Vegeta just shrugged, he didn't that think Chryseis not having anyone sing that song when she died was a big deal, stuff like that happened. How many traditions from his people had been lost?All of them.He glanced at the young blonde woman out of the corner of his eye.There was a troubled expression on her face, and hidden almost out of sight in her eyes was grief.She was thinking about that man again, Xander, Vegeta realized. He could see it in her eyes.Sometimes one had to look beyond Chryseis words to understand what she meant.

"Ha! Looks like I won again!" Bulma shouted jubilantly, putting her cards face up on the floor so everyone could see."Royal flush!"

"I think she's cheating," Krillin grumbled quietly to Gohan.

"Want to say that out loud?" Bulma challenged him.

"Er..." Krillin mumbled. 

Chryseis chuckled softly."She has spirit," she said.

"Huh?" Vegeta asked.

"Your wife, she has spirit."

Vegeta smirked."You just noticed that?You're not as bright as I thought you were."

Chryseis scowled."I'm going out for some fresh air," she muttered.

Somewhat lethargically she walked outdoors. Her eyes focused on the sky, she examined the stars.The stars in this dimension were not so different from the stars in her own dimension, after all the two dimensions were almost identical, and as she looked up into the night's sky, Chryseis thought she could almost pick out the star that was her home solar system.Of course in this world none of her people would be living there, the royal palace would not be standing high on the edge of a rocky cliff over looking the wild, blue-green ocean.Perhaps the biri-buri gulls would still be calling across the white wakes of fishing vessels signal that fish were near by... no, her people had brought those handy birds with them from their previous dimension, there would be no biri-buri gulls.She wondered what the natives on her home planet would be doing since they weren't slave, broken down by generation after generation of degradation and back breaking labor.Perhaps they were great artisans, or writers, or singers.That same race back in her dimension never had a chance to become great, Chryseis' people had beaten them down.

Chryseis'gaze turned back to the planet on which she stood, her keen eyes sweeping across the starlit landscape.This dimension, these people, deserved the chance that the same races in her dimension never had.Chryseis had known that the moment she first looked into this dimension and had seen that her people's way was not the only way to live, and from that first moment she had also known that she could never let this dimension fall into the hands of her ruthless king.Her eyes flicked once more across the horizon.Yet was this dimension and all its peoples and races worth the loss of Xander?

Chryseis sighed and shook her head sadly.Xander... what had he been thinking when he died? Had he felt betrayed? Alone? Frightened? She shivered even though the night air was warm. 

"Please forgive me, my love," she whispered to the stars."Please forgive me for my foolishness.If I had known..." Tears fell from her cheeks as she turned suddenly and began to run hard away from Capsule Corp.Her feet took her across the lawn and probably would have taken her further had she not run into someone. She fell backward, landing none to softly on her bottom.

"Whoa!" came a voice from the darkness."Hey, are you all right there?"

Chryseis looked up and saw Yamcha standing over her, a concerned expression in his dark eyes."I'm fine," she replied, getting to her feet and wiping tears off of her face."I must be getting clumsy. You're the second person I've run into like that."

Yamcha waved his hand, forestalling an apology."No big deal.I was just standing out here looking at the stars."He smiled lopsidedly."I guess every so often I need to be jolted back to reality."

Chryseis said quietly, "I was looking at the stars too.This world... it's so like my own world, but so different at the same time.Everything here... this entire planet... memories keep coming back..."She struggled to say something, but had no words.Her eyes burned as tears threatened to return.

"Feeling homesick?"

"No,I don't miss my home," Chryseis murmured."I miss... I have made mistakes," she admitted, "things that cannot be fixed. My world... it no longer holds anything for me."

"We're kindred souls then," Yamcha said.The bitterness in his voice struck Chryseis like a physical blow."I've made my share of mistakes too.Mostly with women."

_Why is he telling me this?_ Chryseis asked herself._Why am _I_ pouring out _my_ soul?__Because I need sympathy?_"I know.I've been watching this dimension since the battle with Frieza."

Yamcha found that a little disturbing, but it didn't really matter, not in the long run. "I thought for so long that I had all the time in the world to find my place and live happily ever after, you know?"

Chryseis nodded. "I was always so sure that I was doing the right thing, even when I wasn't so sure."

"I know the feeling.We're the forgotten ones, you know?Tien, Chaotzu and I, even Piccolo to a lesser extent.Seems like these days unless you've got the addition of Super Saiyan to your name you're going to have to take a back seat.Pardon, I know that you're one now also.Ah, the limitations of the Human body!" He laughed harshly."If in my youth I had known that this was how my life was going to turn out... let's just say I would have done things a little differently.Now..." he looked up at the sky, "I'm no longer the man I was, but what I wouldn't give to be one of the top dogs again.You're a saint for helping Tien and Chaotzu.I only wish I could learn a new technique that would rocket me to the top again."

A thought struck Chryseis."Ra'n K'ir," she murmured.

"What was that?" 

"Your rocket to the top -my rocket too-Ra'n K'ir,"

Yamcha cocked his head and looked at her curiously."Come again?"

"When I was young I didn't have the heart to fight to win.Unless someone mad me very angry I couldn't give a fight my all, even if I truly wanted to.That made duels... embarrassing to say the least.My master, Kurin, told me of Ra'n K'ir.It's a... a technique that releases all your potential."

"How?"

Chryseis wondered if she ought to go on.Hadn't she made enough of a fool out of herself?It didn't seem to matter.Nothing seemed to matter without Xander."Every person has some sort of blockage holding back their true potential. To quote Kurin, 'It's kind of like a bunch of spiritual boogers clogging up the nasal passages of the soul.'"

"Your master said that?"

"Kurin was an odd sock.She 'lost her matching wits in the dryer of life.' That's another one of her quotes.The point is that these spiritual boogers prevent a person from accessing the sum total of their power.Many different things can cause them, unconscious self-restraint, like in my case, or simply natural barriers that can't be broken through by normal means.The stronger a person is the more of these boogers they are likely have."

"In that case," Yamcha joked, "Goku and Vegeta must have some serious clogged up sinuses."

Chryseis gave a short bark of laughter."Actually, they're two of the most spiritual-booger free warriors I've ever met.Anyway, the Ra'n K'ir is sort of like 'blowing the nose of the soul,' that's from Kurin too, by the way.It clears out all the boogers and lets you access the depths of your strength." Chryseis patted her arm."See this?" she asked, pointing at her tattoo.

"Yeah."

"After using Ra'n K'ir everyone is left marked in some way.This isn't a tattoo.My skin actually changed color afterward.Sometimes the marks are small, sometimes... well, as you can see they can be enormous."

_If a big mark is the entire price I have to pay,_ Yamcha thought, _I'm in!_He voiced this sentiment to Chryseis.

Shaking her head, Chryseis said."Ra'n K'ir is not without danger.Sometime warriors burn themselves up trying."

Yaumcha looked at her with a great deal of sincerity as he said, "I don't give a rat's ass how dangerous it is.I may have changed, but not so much that I won't take risks if I have a chance at a greater gain."

Chryseis raised an eyebrow."All right then," she said."Meet me tomorrow when Tien 

and Chaotzu come to train, I'll see what I can do for you." She turned to go back to the house.

"Hey, hold on!" Yamcha said quickly.Chryseis looked back at him over her shoulder."You know, when I first met you I though you were a cold, heartless woman, but I was wrong.I don't know what you were running from a few minutes ago, what mistakes you might have made, who's life you might have ruined, but I do know that you just made my day.Hell, you just made my whole damn year." Smiling broadly he walked with her the rest of the way to back to the house.

Chryseis looked at the scarred warrior out of the corner of her eyes as they walked.She pitied him.He had lost so much because of foolish mistakes, all of it never to be regained. Now in she walked, proud, driven by honor and the desire to become more powerful as much she was driven by the desire to protect other dimensions from the ravages of her world, and she changed everything.Her presence put a new life back into three warriors that had fallen by the way side as their companions gained enormous strength.She had failed to save Xander from her world, perhaps she could save these three new pupils from despair.Perhaps she could save herself at the same time.


	5. Ra'n K'ir: Dreamwalking

Arriving at first light and feeling tremendously excited, Chaotzu, Tien and Yamcha met Chryseis, Vegeta, Trunks and Bra on the lawn of the Capsule Corp compound.Chryseis sat Tien and Chaotzu down on the grass and instructed them in simple mental exercises for three hours while Vegeta presided over a sparring match between his two children.

"Get your butt up of the ground, boy!Are you going to let you little sister beat you like that?" Vegeta shouted.It was his version of an encouraging pep talk.

"Chaotzu stop levitating and sit!For heaven's sake is that reflexive for you or something?" Chryseis asked, pushing the short fighter down as he began to drift skyward for the fifth time in the last hour."Tien... Tien... oh hell! He's fallen asleep. Hey, Tien! WAKE UP!" Tien's eyes, all three of them, shot open and he sat up straighter before closing them again to concentrate.

On the sidelines, Yamcha watched the proceedings with an amused grin.Chryseis struck him as a demanding taskmistress, but training with her promised to be an enjoyable as well as useful experience.The enjoyable part of that came from the fact that Chryseis was a beautiful woman.Yamcha frowned briefly.She was also about as friendly as a hungry bear._Oh yeah, you could get real close to a girl like that,_ Yamcha thought to himself, _and then she'd have you for lunch._He kept watching her, noting the flashes of sadness that passed across her face every once in a while.Maybe she's not a bear, he corrected after a few minutes.She's more like a tiger... No, she moves like a tigress, but she's got the personality of a pack hunter... but one that's been pushed away, or one that left on it's own.She's a lone wolf, he decided at last.

"Okay, can you two take it from here?" Chryseis asked Tien and Chaotzu."Chaotzu sit the hell down!" Once more she pushed Chaotzu back to the ground."Forget for a few seconds that you even can fly, all right?"

"I'm not sure I can..." Chaotzu began.

"Sure you can," Chryseis told him."And if you don't have it worked out by the time I get back to you I'll tie you to a boulder so that you don't float off, got it?"

Chaotzu nodded.

"Tien, if you fall asleep one more time I'm going to sew all three of your eyes open with a dull needle, are we clear on that?"

Tien swallowed hard and nodded.

Meanwhile Vegeta was talking to Trunks and Bra about their fighting skills.

"...Keep your guard up!You won't always be fighting your brother and an enemy will take advantage of any weakness in your defense to kill you," Vegeta told his daughter, who accepted the information with little protest.

"Vegeta, I need you for a while!" Chryseis called to him.

"What do you want?" Vegeta demanded walking over to her.

Chryseis dug a one-inch diameter sphere out of her cloak and expanded it to one foot in diameter."Hey, Yamcha, get over here!" She shouted. Yamcha trotted over to Chryseis, who handed the sphere to him."Take this and have seat," Chryseis instructed him."And don't touch any of those depressions around the middle of it until I say so!" Chryseis turned back to Vegeta, dug a tiny cube out of her cloak, and expanded that.Fully expanded the cube was six inches high, deep and across and was covered with a multitude of tiny buttons on the top.On one side was a socket into which Chryseis plugged a Y-shaped cord that ended in two small electronic leads.She sat down opposite Yaumcha and attached one lead to her right temple and the other to Yaumcha's left temple.She pressed one of the buttons on the top of the cube and the cube lit up with an odd green glow.Giving the cube to Vegeta she said, "If that thing starts to glow red, pull us out right away."

Vegeta asked, "Why?"

"Because if you don't Yaumcha and I will die," Chryseis replied quietly.

Yamcha swallowed hard.Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, he thought.

"Put your fingers over the ten depressions on your side of the sphere," Chryseis ordered Yamcha, breaking him out of his reverie.She placed her own fingers over the depressions on her side of the sphere. "Now close your eyes and press down," she said, closing her own eyes and putting pressure on the sphere with her fingertips. "Concentrate on your ki, let it flow, but don't use it..." Chryseis' voice trailed off and a million images flashed through her mind. 

Once before she had been used Ra'n K'ir, and that time she had been on the receiving end of the procedure, not the initiating.It was like flying through a cobweb of memories, each strand smacking her with another thought or image.It was like flying through a billion such cobwebs one after the other.

As suddenly as it had begun it stopped and Chryseis found herself standing in the middle of a desert.The sky was unbearably blue and the sun was blazing fiercely in the sky.No clouds could be seen.Nothing could be seen accept for the sun, the sky and the endless golden sands of the desert.Chryseis stood up straight and examined her clothes, a pair of loose, light weight cotton pants that rode low on her hips, an equally loose lightweight cotton tunic that tightened around her throat into a high-neckline that grazed her chin when she looked down, a woven sash was tied around her waist and from this hung a black-handled dagger. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and kept behind her shoulders by a opaque cotton headdress that shaded her eyes from the sun and kept sand from blowing in her mouth and nose by means of a flap that covered the lower part of her face.Her feet were shod in a pair of supple leather boots that came up to her calves, the tops of which her pants were tucked into and then wrapped with strips of cloth.Only her eyes and a little bit of the skin that surrounded them showed.

Ra'n K'ir had brought Chryseis' consciousness into the sphere as well as Yamcha's, but because he was the one Ra'n K'ir would affect, Yamcha had control of the environment and everything else, including what Chryseis wore.Chryseis bit her lip and looked around for Yamcha, but saw only the desert, stretching from horizon to horizon.She checked to see if she had water, a canteen, a water bag, or something of that sort and was not disappointed; over one shoulder was slung a sack filled with water.She untied the sinew cord wrapped around the top to keep the water from spilling and took one long sip before resealing the water.Feeling refreshed she set out to look for Yamcha, knowing that she would find him no matter where she went.

How long she trekked across the desert she never knew.In real time it could have been no more than a few second, but inside the sphere it felt like hours.Finally she came upon an oasis and a pack of sandy-brown desert wolves.The wolves were lounging in the shade of an overhanging rock next to a pool of clear blue water, bubbling up from an underground spring, and a single lonely palm tree.Chryseis approached the pool and pulled off the headdress so she could dip her head in the water and scrub the sweat off of skin.The water was icy cold compared to the dry, fire-like heat of the open desert.The wolves eyed her warily for a few second, and then returned to lounging as Chryseis refilled her water bag.At the opposite end of the spring sat a single wolf, as far away from the others as it could be without leaving the oasis.Chryseis noticed the scars on the wolf's muzzle and approached it.

"How are you?" Chryseis asked as the wolf morphed into human form.

Brushing off his pants, the same style as Chryseis' but cut for a man, Yamcha, for that was who the wolf was, said, "I'm a little confused."

Chryseis laughed and put the headdress back on."Ra'n K'ir is like that.Your thoughts control the environment here.I take it you like the desert."

"I grew up there."

"A lone wolf no doubt." The pack of wolves vanished and Chryseis and Yamcha went to sit under the rocky overhang.

"This place isn't so bad, what's so dangerous about Ra'n K'ir?" Yamcha asked, leaning back against the rock wall behind him.

"Oh, this part, this isn't dangerous, it's the dreams that can get you," Chryseis said, leaning back as well, her hands behind her head."Just wait until you go to sleep tonight."

"Wait a minute... how long are we going to be here?" 

Chryseis shrugged, "It could feel like months but in reality it will likely be no longer than an hour or two at best.Each dream in Ra'n K'ir clears out one of the blockages keeping you from achieving your true potential.The more blockages, the more dreams and hence the more nights we will have to stay in this place."

"Well in that case I think we out to have better surroundings.How do I change where we are?"

"You don't.The scene is set; you can't change that now.Little things, like your clothes, food, flora, fauna, that you can change, but not the main environment," Chryseis explained.She seemed a little perturbed.

Yamcha frowned."Well, I suppose we can handle the desert."

"Speak for yourself!" Chryseis exclaimed, "I hate this heat!Do you have any idea how long I walked to get here?"

Yamcha laughed at her ire and closed his eyes."I think I'm going to get to work on that dreaming thing," he murmured.

He opened his eyes and it was dark, but he wasn't at the desert oasis with Chryseis, he was alone in an oppressive and foreboding forest.Each gnarled tree seemed to whisper in his ear.

_Leave!_

_Leave!_

_You must leave!_

_Leave!_

_Leave, leave, leave! Leave! LEAVE!_

"This is my dream!" Yamcha shouted."Where am I supposed to go?"

_Go now! _

_You're not safe here!_

_Run!_

_Run away!_

The voices seemed to fear for him.

_Please... _

_Run before it arrives..._

Then, right in his ear, Yamcha heard a voice.It was a sultry female voice, low pitched and seductive.He felt hot breath on his neck and turned slowly to see the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on in his life.Her eyes were a luminous violet and her ebony hair swept across her bare shoulders and across her chest.Only those black strands clothed her fair-skinned and supple flesh.

She licked her full crimson lips and whispered, "I've been waiting for you... oh for so very long..."

_Run, _

_Run while you can!_

The voices in the trees whispered, more urgently now than ever before.Yamcha wasn't about to run anywhere.He felt like his feet were glued to the forest floor."Who are you?" He asked hoarsely.

The beautiful woman laughed, a pleasing sound that sent shivers running down Yamcha's spine."I am who I am," she said."I have many names, but they all mean the same thing..." She smiled, but that smile held none of the pleasantness of her laugh; it was as cold as arctic winds."You can call me Lust."

"Lust?" Yamcha whispered.Her lips were within inches of his and they seemed to beg to be kissed."Why... why is your name Lust?"

Lust stepped back and flung her hair over her shoulders to stand stark naked before Yamcha."Tell me why you think I am called what I am," she countered, running one hand down the perfectly sculpted curve of her side and resting it on her hip."Tell me, what do you feel when you look at me... then tell me why I am called what I am." She laughed again and stood for Yamcha's appraisal.

"Because... you inspire lust in men," Yamcha answered, caressing her flesh with his eyes.God she was beautiful.

Lust stepped forward again and pressed her body up against his, her left hand pressing 

hard against his back to pull him even closer. She whispered in his ear, "That and because I myself lust." She nibbled on his earlobe and traced a line of soft kisses over his jaw stopping a hairsbreadth from his lips."I want you," she added looking at him with half-closed eyes.

Yamcha felt desire for her igniting within him.He reached with one hand to tilt her face up and leaned forward to kiss her.

_NO! _

_Oh no, you mustn't!_

_Run!_

_Run away now!_

He had forgotten about the voices in the trees.They sounded so plaintive, so worried that he paused, his lips almost touching Lust's own."I only know your name..." he whispered, wanting to pull back and wanting to run his hands over her body at the same time.He was torn between the two.

"What else matters but the feeling we both share at this moment?" Lust asked, gazing into his eyes from behind her thick sooty-black lashes.

"Maybe some other time, Lust.Maybe the next time if you'll be here for me," Yamcha said, hardly believe his words."I'll be back again soon," he added as he felt the dream beginning to fade.

"I'll be waiting," Lust promised.She took his face in her sensual hands and kissed him passionately."I'll be here... always."

Yamcha's eyes shot open and he gasped as he sat up suddenly.His head knocked against the rock overhang."Sweet God!" he murmured, his eyes wide."Sweet God! Chryseis... how... how old were you when you used Ra'n K'ir?"

Chryseis blinked, confused.Darkness had settled over the desert while Yamcha had slept and Chryseis was sitting cross-legged in the darkest shadows of the rocks."I was twelve..."

Yamcha's eyes became wider. 

Chryseis noted his shocked expression."Everyone's dreams are different," she said."I dreamt of my family and my adoptive father and the people I knew that had died in battle.No don't tell me what you dreamt now," she said as Yaumcha opened his mouth to tell her about his dream."The time will come later for you to tell another what happened in the dream, but now is not that time and I am not the person to tell.Go back to sleep, there will be no more dreams until tomorrow night."

Yamcha closed his eyes again, suddenly feeling as tired as if he had fought Frieza with a feather duster as his only weapon."No more dreams," he repeated.He wondered whether or not that was a good thing.


	6. Ra'n K'ir: Dreamdemons

Okay!Here comes the mother of all author's notes.

You may be wondering about my reasons behind popping off on a tangent (and I do believe that this chapter and the one before it as well as the one after it count as a tangent).Well wonder no more; this is the reason behind the madness.

If you're reading this little piece of literary creativity you probably know what the title is, and as you might or might not have already noticed, the title fits with my theme; i.e. I'm giving a number of characters that chance to achieve what they have lost or lacked.When I planned this work out I was originally going to deal primarily with Vegeta and his family as well as my own original character, Chryseis, but after careful consideration I realized on thing: That would be BORING.Not wanting to be a dull small-blonde-child, I expanded my original vision and in the process actually shortened the story,(I cut out about twenty-five or so pages at the end that no longer applied to the new vision.)I also included several oft neglect characters, Tien, Chaotzu and Yamcha.In the process of including these three characters I realized that I needed to tell the story of their attempt to regain their greatness, and so my little interlude, the Ra'n K'ir chapters, was born.I know what you're thinking, the Ra'n K'ir chapters deal mostly with Yamcha, so what's up with Tien and Chaotzu?They're busy and will get their showcase later on so don't lose your shirt over it! 

I decided for this part to focus on Yamcha because he is so often misrepresented.For example, I have read so many V/B romances that go along these line:Yamcha is a horrible, horrible person because he cheats on Bulma and he smacks her around so Vegeta comes in like the knight-in-shining-armor on a big white horse and rescues her while Yamcha slinks off like the snake he is.Wrong-O! An interesting fantasy, but an even bigger fantasy than the more 'realistic' (and I use that term loosely, because after all this is _all_ fantasy) V/B romances.Sadly, Yamcha is often regarded as the man who can't keep his pants on, and because of this he is labeled as a 'bad' person.Be honest here, which is worse, adultery or genocide?Don't respond because the answer is quite obvious.If that's true then, as much as we love him (and boy do we!Well, me at least) Vegeta is definitely the 'bad' guy out of the pair, and that's probably why we ladies like him so much.At any rate, Yamcha always gets the short end of the stick in those sorts of stories.Basically I thought he deserved a chance to redeem himself in the eyes of DBZ fans everywhere.Consequently redemption for a variety of things is one of the underlying themes in this story.(Oh my god! A DBZ fanfiction with a deeper message! What is the world coming to?!)

Now before you accuse me of hypocrisy and point out none to subtly in your reviews, 'hey isn't Yamcha's demon in Ra'n K'ir Lust?'I'll say quite clearly that yes, that is one of the many, and I stress the word 'many', things he has to overcome in Ra'n K'ir to obtain the full limits of his power.So don't spaz out on me.

There will be one more chapter in the Ra'n K'ir cycle and then I will get back into the main story.______________________________________________________________________________

"How long have they been in there now?"Bra asked her father.She cocked her head and looked at the two still figures holding the metallic sphere.

Vegeta sighed and said, "Thirty-four."Somehow Bra had forgotten that she could tell time and that all she had to do to know how long Chryseis and Yaumcha had been in Ra'n K'ir was look at a clock._Besides which,_ Vegeta thought, _she asks every minute without fail.I could set a clock by her._

Trunks, on duty over by Tien and Chaotzu, to keep them from falling asleep or floating off respectively, added, "They're fine, sis.See the cube Father has?It's still green, so they're all right."

Indeed the cube was still emitting a wan green glow.Though looking at it more closely Vegeta thought it was edging toward a yellowish color.Silently he called for Chryseis to hurry up.

Despite the fact that only thirty-four minutes had passed in the real world, in Ra'n K'ir thirty-four days had gone by.The rock overhang had shifted subtly on the fifth day and was now a full-blown cave complete with its own little spring for drinking.Also, three more palm trees had appeared one night and they provided the tiny oasis with more shade.

_The powers of the mind,_ Yamcha thought, grinning, as he settled back onto his 'bed' of palm leaves covered with blankets.For some reason he had be unable to imagine up a mattress when he had begun to fit out the cave for a living space, but Chryseis had assured him that palm leaves would do just fine for her so he needn't bother himself.Chryseis' slept on the opposite side of the cave on a pit filled in with desert sand and then covered over with palm leaves and blankets. She really had only accepted the palm leaves because Yamcha had set it up for her already, just sand and blankets would have been fine.

"I slept on a hard dirt floor without even blankets when I was a slave," she said one day."I slept on a down mattress at my adoptive father's palace when he took me in.Somewhere in between those two were the bunk beds in the Academy barracks and my room in the palace in the Imperial Capital."

_Well bravo for you,_ Yamcha thought.At least one of us sleeps soundly.When ever he went to sleep he dreamt of the forest, and almost every time Lust was there waiting for him, always naked, always desiring him.It was getting harder and harder to escape the dreams without giving in.The voices in the trees were always there telling him to go, to run, to flee from Lust, and in those voices was a strange urgency and fear.Lust seemed unable to hear them, which, at the same time it was a relief, was disconcerting.Yaumcha wondered every so often whether or not spending too long in Ra'n K'ir affected a person's sanity. 

Footsteps at the entrance to the cave brought Yamcha out of his reverie.His eyes traveled to where Chryseis stood, wearing a much-abbreviated outfit and carrying something wrapped up in white muslin.He gasped, not at Chryseis state of dress, she had taken to wearing a sort of loin cloth and a strip of cloth wound around her chest after deciding that the desert was too warm for anything else, instead his gaze focused on the bundle in her arms.Blood saturated the cloth so much that it dripped on the stone floor of the cave and pooled there.Chryseis' arms were wetted with the dark red fluid and it had begun to turn dark brown as it crusted on her tanned skin.She dropped the bundle on the ground and the cloth fell open to reveal the skinned carcass of one of the sandy desert wolves that frequented the oasis.The wolves were another thing that Yamcha had been unable to alter no matter how hard he tried.He could make them appear and disappear as he pleased, but they always returned the same as they had left and always in the same numbers.

"This is not your work," Chryseis said.No question was in her voice, she knew Yamcha incapable of killing and skinning one of the wolves.

"What...what happened?" Yamcha asked.

Chryseis went to the stream inside the cave and washed the wolf blood off of her arms and chest."I found him like that a hundred yards or so from here." Her eyes clouded as the water began to run red from the blood."Something isn't right here.I think it's time for you to tell me about your dreams."

"I thought you weren't the person to tell."

"This," Chryseis said, stabbing one damp finger at the wolf carcass, "is ample reason for me to become the right person.So spill it, scar-face!"

Never had Yamcha seen Chryseis so agitated.Sure she got annoyed sometimes, but she never been so obviously bothered.He quickly decided that her flustered state meant that something serious was afoot.He began to tell her about his dreams.

Outside of Ra'n K'ir the cube in Vegeta's hand was emitting a decidedly yellow light.

"When you go to sleep tonight you've got to find out if this is Lust's work," Chryseis said gravely after listening to Yamcha's story."If it is we've got a bigger problem on our hands than I originally thought."

"Why is that?" Yamcha asked nervously.

Chryseis bit her lip and shifted uneasily in her seat."It is... very rare for a dream-demon to affect the waking Ra'n K'ir world.It means that the demon is... incredibly strong."

Yamcha looked bitter."So, Lust is my personal demon and she has an incredibly strong hold on me.Gee, I feel like a gem of man."The last was said with unbridled sarcasm.

Chryseis frowned."I think you're reading things wrong," she said."Lust could be the embodiment of a true demon of your soul, or she could be a demon created by your mind; not really the true demon you must face, but facade imposed by your mind to keep you from facing your true demon.The mind will do interesting things to protect itself."

"When I signed up for this I didn't know demons came with the whole package. I thought I'd spend some time here and dream a few trippy dreams and leave with a mark on my arm or something like that.I didn't plan for demons."

"I warned you of the dangers," Chryseis said.

"You didn't say anything about demons."

"What else did you think was blocking you from your true potential?I told you to being with that this wasn't going to be an easy task!"

"I want out," Yamcha said decisively."I'm not going to stick around a place where dream-demons can touch the waking world, even if the waking world here is really a dream in the real world."

"Are you going to give up now?Just because this hasn't been a cakewalk like you expected you're just going to say to hell with it?Sorry buster but I'm not going to approve that plan of action."

"It's my damn dream, I can do what I want with or without your approval!"

"You can't leave unless I say though," Chryseis countered."Your mind may control reality here, but my mind holds us in Ra'n K'ir.We don't leave unless I say and we're not leaving until I'm satisfied that you've met your objective.So suck it up and take a nap!" She stomped out of the cave in a storm of fury, leaving Yamcha behind feeling a touch bewildered.

What right did she have to decide his fate in Ra'n K'ir?If he wanted out he had every right to leave! She didn't own him; he could do what he wanted when he wanted.He was a grown man for god's sake! What was with women, thinking they could make him obey like a dutiful dog? He muttered viciously as he lay back in his palm-leaf bed.His eyes closed as sleep fell over him with the suddenness of a summer thunderstorm.

Lust was there, her white skin glistening in the misty-dampness of the forest, her back arched as she leaned back on one arm on a fur blanket spread over the roots of an ancient, twisted tree.She smiled invitingly and beckoned him to draw closer.Without hesitation Yamcha complied.

"You have returned to me," Lust purred, leaning into his arms and cupping his cheek in one slender hand."The forest is so cold when you are gone," she added, pressing closer.Her bare breasts brushed against Yaumcha's arm as she leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "I love it when you are close.Stay close to me."She traced one finger across his jaw and then rested her hand on his chest."So strong, so handsome, so... desirable.I've wanted you since the moment I saw you, my handsome warrior, but you always leave." Her voice was plaintive and pitiful."You will not leave me wanting this time will you?" 

"I... I... really can't say... I d... don't know for sure," Yamcha stammered.

Lust gave him a beseeching look."You don't desire me?Am I too plain?" She asked.

"No! God no! You're... you're perfection!"

"And you deserve perfection my handsome warrior!I am yours if you would but have me!"

And boy oh boy did he want to take her up on that offer!In more sense than one she was a dream.She was the perfect woman, always willing, never asking for a commitment, never complicating things and beautiful beyond description.She never gave orders, she never demanded, she simply expressed her desire and left it up to him to decide, though certainly there was some confusion in her mind as to why he didn't jump at the chance to have her.For that matter there was confusion in Yaumcha's mind as to why he had stalled her for so long.

All of a sudden he came to a decision.Clasping one of Lust's hands in his own he looked into the liquid depths of her violet eyes."You're right," he whispered hoarsely, leaning forward and laying her back on the fur blanket, drinking in her beauty with his eyes, unable to quench the fire he felt raging within him now.

Lust's eyes lit up with excitement as she reached up and pressed her palms against his back.

_No!_

_Run_

_Look!_

_You must run!_

_Look behind her!_

_Quickly!_

_Look at the fur!_

_Flee!_

_Look!_

_You must run!_

_Look at the fur!_

_Run!_

Yaumcha blinked, trying to clear the shouts out of his mind.

_Look at the fur!_

He felt his eyes gazing past Lust's shoulder at the fur blanket below her.

_Look at it!_

Each hair was a sandy-gold color.

_Do you see it?_

_Run!_

_Do you see the wolf?_

His eyes widened in shock.It was a wolf pelt.More precisely it was the pelt of the sand-colored desert wolf Chryseis had found.Lust had killed it! Yaumcha reeled back and stood up. 

_Oh, run!_

"My warrior, what is the matter?" Lust asked, cocking her head to one side and gazing at him inquisitively.

"That fur," Yaumcha croaked, "where did you get it?"

"What does that matter?"

"Listen, Lust, something is not right here.I think it would be best if I... just left."

Lust stood up and said, "No..."

_Run!_

"Stay with me..."

_Run now!_

"I need you..."

_Get away from here!_

"I want you..."

_Run as fast as you can!_

"Don't you feel it?"

_You must feel it! Run!_

Conflicting messages fought in Yamcha's mind as he tried to make sense of the situation and failed miserably.He held his head in his hands and shouted."This is crazy!"

"Don't you want me too?"

_Run!_

"Don't you feel it?"

_Run quickly!_

"Don't you desire me?"

_Run while you still can!_

"Don't you feel it?"

_Run!_

_Run!_

_Run! Run! Run!_

_You must run!_

"I must..." Yamcha began haltingly

_Run!_

"I MUST RUN!"

Yamcha woke up suddenly, a feeling of dread echoing within him.He scanned the cave for Chryseis, but couldn't see her."Must be outside..." he decided numbly.Standing up on shaky legs, he left the confines of the cave.

Chryseis stood at the edge of what remained of the pack of desert wolves, her eyes fixed unerringly on the skinned carcasses.Blood had drenched the sand around her and was staining her feet red.She swallowed hard and turned to Yamcha as he approached.

"This is going to get ugly," she said.

Vegeta's eyes were fixed on the cube in his hands.Moments before it had stopped glowing yellow and had turned bright orange.The light pulsed in a heartbeat-rhythm and slowly it began to turn red.Deciding that enough was enough he pushed down the button that would bring Chryseis and Yaumcha out of Ra'n K'ir prematurely.

Nothing happened.

He pressed the button again.

Nothing.

The cube continued to turn red as Vegeta pushed the button again and again.

"Oh shit," he muttered.


	7. Ra'n K'ir: Dreamwarrior

Here you go ladies and gentlemen, the final chapter in the Ra'n K'ir sequence.The next chapter will be back on the main storyline and there should be a whole lot of action!

Enjoy folks!

______________________________________________________________________________

In Ra'n K'ir the wind swept up grains of sand and twisted them into the sky, hiding the desert in clouds of golden dust.Chryseis braced herself against the growing gale and covered her face with her hands.Seconds after Yamcha had emerged from his last dream the wind had started howling in from the south.The wolf carcasses blew away from the oasis, and the palm trees threatened to uproot themselves.Chryseis could feel a malevolent energy swirling in the atmosphere with the wind, seeking out a target.Suddenly the decision was made and the evil dove toward Chryseis.She stiffened suddenly as she lost control of her body.She fought the darkness that began to overwhelm her mind, but the evil presence won over and she slipped away. 

The wind stopped and the sand grains fell like gritty rain.

Yamcha sighed in relief as the wind stopped believing that the worst was over.He was wrong."Chryseis!Chryseis! Are you okay?Where are you?" He called into the now-silent desert.He looked around for her and spotted her a few hundred yards from where she had last been, crouched on the ground.He ran over to her, worried that she might have been hurt."Are you okay?" he asked again once he was close.

She stood and opened her eyes.From those liquid-blue orbs a soul that was not Chryseis' looked out.She licked her lips and laughed like Chryseis had never laughed before; a low, sensuous laugh of sheer pleasure."I like this body," said the stranger with Chryseis' voice... but at the same time not with Chryseis' voice.

"Who... are... you?" Yamcha gasped.

The woman that was not Chryseis laughed again. Slowly her body began to change; trading a petite, slender, frame for a taller, voluptuous one; swapping knee-length blonde hair for black tresses that hung down to the center of her back; switching tanned skin and swirling blue markings for creamy white unblemished skin.Her lips reddened and filled out to luscious proportions as did her bust and hips.Her waist narrowed, her muscles softened, her cheekbones became more pronounced and her eyes became a deep, luminous, violet. "Do you recognize me now my handsome warrior?"

"Lust..." Yamcha breathed.

"So good of you to remember me," Lust murmured.She changed back to Chryseis' body."So strong..." she said wonderingly."So very, very, strong." She began to unwrap the strips of cloth around her chest and then undid the ties that kept the loincloth about her hips.

Yamcha looked away as Lust undressed.

"Why so shy?" Lust asked, walking toward him with practiced ease."Granted this body," she gestured to Chryseis' figure, "is nothing at all compared to my chosen form, but..." she smiled, "it is still a pleasing sight is it not?"

"One that I don't have the right to look at," Yamcha muttered, staring at the sand.

Lust reached up and grabbed his chin.Her strong hands pulled his face up from the ground.He closed his eyes.Lust squeezed his jaw with stolen strength, forcing him to open his eyes.He did his best to look away.

"You will look at me!" Lust roared, pulling his face around. Her nails dug into the skin on his jaw and made him bleed but still he looked away."Bastard!" Lust screamed.She slapped him with her open palm and sent him flying toward the oasis.

Yamcha landed face up in the pool, dizzied by the blow.

Lust laughed."This body is indeed strong.I think I might just keep it." She stalked toward Yamcha and hauled him out of the water."You have denied me far too often.I don't like to be kept waiting, my handsome warrior," she purred in his ear.

Yamcha looked down into her eyes."Release Chryseis," he growled.

Lust laughed. "I don't think so.I've never had power like this before.It is... invigorating.

No, my handsome warrior, you and this body will be mine forever."

"I belong to no one!" 

"You belong to me!" Lust retorted, pulling his face down level with her own.

Yamcha found himself staring directly into Chryseis' eyes, but there was no hint of Chryseis to be found within their blue depths."Let go of her, she is not yours!"

"She is not yours either," Lust said letting go of him with one hand and running her fingers along his scars.She jerked his head lower so that he was staring directly at her breasts.Over her heart was written one name, Xander."She belongs to this man.He died to keep her safe, and provoked her transformation into a luminous being; a God among mortals, one of only six in existence."

"Shut the hell up!" Yamcha snarled, closing his eyes."I don't give a shit about what you say.Let her go!"

"The name of a dead man is so easily erased," Lust continued, paying no attention to his disgust.The name disappeared, replaced by smooth, unmarked skin. "Your name could be erased as well," she added, yanking Yamcha's face close to hers."Would anyone care if you disappeared forever? I don't think so.I'm the only one who wants you.I can give you everything you desire, this body," she once again indicated her borrowed figure, "and all the experience of hundreds of thousands of years of practice.Think of it, my warrior.You get what you desire; I get what I desire.It is the deal of a lifetime, of a thousand lifetimes." She pressed her self against him, molding her body against his.

"Not interested," Yamcha said raggedly. "I don't want her just because she's pretty, she a good woman."

Lust smiled. She loosened her grip slightly."She pities you," Lust said. 

"What?"

"Chryseis, she pities you," Lust laughed.

Yamcha frowned. "So what?"

"She would never pity an equal.She would never pity someone she respected, but she pities you.You had the opportunity to be happy, and you lost it.Now she wants to give you another chance, not because she thinks you're worthy... but because she feels sorry for you." Lust thought this was exceptionally funny, but Yamcha didn't."I don't pity you though," Lust continued.She licked her lips."You really wouldn't like her if you really knew her.Come on, give in, you know you want to."

Yamcha grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand off his shirt."Listen, I don't give damn what you say.Let her go!This is my world, Lust, created by my mind and I want you to get out!"

"Your world? Don't make me laugh!" Lust took a couple of steps back."I know you better than you know yourself, my handsome warrior.Do you think that because I am Lust that I am not also all your other faults?Chryseis told you about that didn't she?I am Cowardice," her eyes turned a sickly yellow, "I am Envy," her eyes became a bright green, "I am Greed," now her eyes were gold, "I am Wrath," and now the eyes were pulsating red. They changed back to violet and then to blue."I am every dark emotion. I am all the demons of your soul.I am a Goddess here in your world because even though your mind controls this world, I control your mind!"

"You are a sick perversion of my mind.You are no Goddess, you are nothing!"

"I am the Almighty!" Lust retorted, anger flashing across her stolen features."And now I 

possess a body with power fit for a Goddess!"

"You possess nothing but the shell of a good woman and I order you to let her go!"

"You cannot order me to do anything, my handsome warrior. It is best you just give in now."

Yamcha smiled forcedly and approached Lust.He reached out and grabbed her roughly by the chin."You misread me, Lust.I may not be the bravest man that ever lived, but I'll be damned before I give up.I'll be damned if I let a friend be controlled by you. I deny you! I deny your divinity! I deny your power! You are nothing but a shadow, a ghost, a shade!I order you to release Chryseis.Return to your dream world, Lust.Go wait for someone else to prey on!I am done battling you, and I have won!"

Lust's eyes went wide.Her form began to waver as she was pulled unwillingly out of her host."No!I am a Goddess!I own you!" She began to shriek with pain in two voices as she was ripped out of Chryseis' body as the two souls were torn away from one another and the evil was exorcised.

Lust stood beside Chryseis, her figure translucent and looking as if a stiff breeze might blow her into pieces.Chryseis didn't look much better, she was shaking from head to toe, her eyes rolled back in her head.Yamcha supported Chryseis with one hand and pointed the other at Lust."Go back to hell, Demon!" he said with quiet menace.His hand began to glow as he charged up a ki blast and aimed directly at Lust's heaving bosom. 

"No!" Lust shouted in vain as the blast shattered her and forced her back into her own world.

Chryseis went limp in Yamcha's arms and he laid her down on the ground, creating a blanket to cover her with."Lady, you didn't say that it would be like this," he murmured, smoothing her hair out.He kissed her on the forehead and sighed.

Howling victoriously, the desert wolves announced their return to the desert. 

Though it had been glowing red only seconds before, the cube in Vegeta's hands had now 

turned a pleasant green color once again.He breathed a barely noticeable sigh of relief and 

chastised himself for doubting Chryseis' ability to survive.

Chryseis awoke as the moon rose over the desert.The stars were twinkling brightly in the sky and the air had cooled as the night had fallen over the sand.She sat up where she was laying and looked around, clutching her blanket to her bare chest.Her eyes settled on Yamcha as he sat by the pool, the desert wolves sleeping peacefully around him.Chryseis shivered, and for more reason than the chilly air.She remembered almost nothing of being possessed by Lust.She only knew what Lust had wanted her to know.That now one more person knew about her... weakness.She pounded one fist into the sand.Lust had told Yamcha about Xander.Chryseis had wanted that to stay a secret, her own personal grief, but now Yamcha knew.How many people would he tell?How much respect would she lose?She stood up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, and walked over to where Yamcha sat.

"You're awake," Yamcha said plainly.He stroked one of the wolves on the head and the creature sighed contentedly in its sleep. 

"We're leaving now," Chryseis said coldly.She thought she had detected a note of pity in his voice.How dare he pity her!

"Okay," he said.

Chryseis sat down opposite him and put her hands out like she had to grasp the metal sphere in the real world.Yamcha copied her.He looked oddly serene, Chryseis thought.She envied that serenity."Close your eyes," she said snappishly, as she closed her own eyes.She activated the release mechanism in her mind.

"It's about bloody time!" Vegeta snarled as Chryseis and Yamcha opened their eyes.

Chryseis blinked, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. "Yes, it is isn't it? I'm going to sleep now." She pitched forward, the metal sphere slipping out of her grasp.

Yamcha yawned, feeling tired himself."I think she's got the right idea," he murmured.Then he too pitched forward and fell into a deep sleep.

Vegeta blinked, confused, and then sighed loudly."Hey, Three-Eyes,Mime-Boy, come get your friend and put him inside on the couch!"

Tien and Chaotzu frowned at the insulting nicknames, but complied.Vegeta scooped up Chryseis and took her inside as well.Grumbling he carried her upstairs and dropped her on her bed.

"Listen you," he said, scowling at Chryseis while she slept, "you'd better not make a habit of this!"


	8. Rain of Blood

Some months later Chryseis awoke to the sound of raindrops on the roof.It must be a downpour, she thought as she pulled her blankets up to her chin and snuggled up in her bed.She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the rain, letting herself drift.Life had eased into a pattern for Chryseis: get up in the morning, spar with Vegeta, train, go inside, take a shower, eat, crawl into bed, fall asleep... lather, rinse, repeat.It was getting too comfortable.Something inside her made Chryseis want to suffer.What right did she have to be happy and warm and safe?The week before she had woken up, and for the first time had struggled to picture Xander's face.It had frightened her.She was losing him again, but this time she was losing her memories of him.Little details were slipping away, and so was her guilt, sparking a new guilt.How could she be so horrible as to forget the man that had loved her and sacrificed himself for her?Each day she was losing more of Xander, and each day she wondered if a time would come when she didn't remember him at all.

The rain stuck harder against the roof, like a million tiny little battering rams trying to beat their way in, like Chryseis fears as they battered against the stronghold of her mind.There was something more in the air than just the rain, a sense of evil foreboding, a sense that all was not right.Chryseis opened her eyes and sat up in bed.The hairs on the back of her neck prickled and goose bumps ran up and down her arms and legs.Still the rain poured down harder in the pale, gaunt light of the early morning.

They were coming, Chryseis knew it.The warriors from her dimension would appear soon, threatening her new life and her new friends.Like they had threatened and then killed Xander.She got out of bed, a flash of lightening illuminating her naked form in her bedroom mirror, and she pulled her clothes on.Another flash of lightening and the rain poured down harder than ever, like an army of tiny men with hammers.Chryseis put her ankle boots on and fastened them tightly.She pulled her cloak out of her closet and slipped it on over her shoulders, putting the hood up over her head.

She left her room, trying to be as quiet as possible.Vegeta was standing, arms crossed 

over his chest, outside his bedroom door.When Chryseis entered the hall he shot her a look of intense anticipation.

"So you feel it too," Chryseis whispered.

Vegeta nodded.He uncrossed his arms and walked over to her."How long do we have?" he asked.

Chryseis pulled her cloak closer about her body."Not long.They will be here very soon.Very soon."She shivered almost imperceptibly.

"Then let's go," Vegeta said, a touch of his usual abrasives slipping into his voice.

They started down the stairs only to be stopped by a soft voice calling from behind them, "Daddy, take me with you, I can help."

"No, Bra, this is too dangerous.You go get Mime-Boy and Three-Eyes, then come back here.You can't fight this battle," Vegeta instructed his daughter without turning around.

"Then why have I been training all this time Daddy?What good was it if I can't help?"

"You are helping, no quickly do as I said."

"Daddy please, I won't get hurt, I promise!"

"You're too young and you're not strong enough yet."

"How will I ever get stronger if all I do is train with Trunks?Daddy, I want to fight beside you guys!"

Vegeta sighed; refusing to turn around for fear that his daughter's pleading expression would change his mind."No," he said firmly.

The soft padding of another pair of feet marked Trunks' arrival."They're here aren't they?" he asked putting an arm protectively around his little sister's shoulders.

Both Vegeta and Chryseis turned to the two children.Trunks looked alert, though his lavender hair was rumpled and he was still in his pajamas.Bra was holding a teddy bear tight to her chest with one hand and tight to Trunks with the other.

"Not yet, but soon," Chryseis corrected quietly.

"Take your sister and go get the others," Vegeta instructed coolly."Make sure she doesn't try to follow us."

"Father..."

"Don't argue with me damn it! Just do what I say!"

Trunks nodded somewhat reluctantly. "C'mon squirt, we got a job to do.Hurry up and get dressed I'll be waiting out here." Bra frowned and ran back into her room and pulled on her training clothes.A moment later the little girl emerged and she and Trunks left to get the other fighters.

"C'mon, let's go," Vegeta grumped. 

Chryseis said nothing as they left the house and took off into the rain.Both Chryseis and Vegeta could feel a strange power emanating from the same place Chryseis had arrived.It was a cold power, cold like the rain, merciless, and pulsing madly, but not yet released.Chryseis knew this power; it was the kind of power used to cross between dimensions.A portal was about to open.They landed just inside the clearing that they had first met in.A faint light was coming from the cave.A few moments later voices could be heard inside the cave.Chryseis and Vegeta ducked back beyond the edge of the clearing and crouched down into the under brush.

A male voice, quiet and dark, "Thena, are we in the right place?"

A female voice, low pitched and sultry, "Yes, Sidon."

A second male voice, "Where else would we be?"

"Shut up Pollo," said a third man, his voice deep and derisive.

"Quiet all of you! Pollo, why hasn't the damned portal shut yet?" said the first man.

The second man said, "I dunno..."

"Useless," the woman sneered.

The four voices got louder as the people walked toward the mouth of the cave.

"Damn it, they would have to send us when it was raining!We're gonna get soggy and that'll take all the fun out of it!"whined the second man.

"SHUT UP POLLO!" ordered the first man, who was apparently the leader.

The four warriors emerged from the cave, and Vegeta caught his first glimpse of his opponents.They all wore jumpsuits like Chryseis' but each in a different color.The first man who spoke, the leader, wore green, the same color as his eyes.He was tall, but not too tall, and his brown hair was cut very short.The woman was tall and as sultry as her voice, with long blue-black hair, ebony eyes and pale skin.She seemed very alert and the way she stood showed the kind of confidence in her own abilities that came only with years of experience and training; she had a quiet catlike grace. The second man was the shortest of them all.He wore bright gold that matched his hair and his unnatural looking gold eyes.He had sarcastic grin on his face and looked to be the joker of the group and also from the conversation seemed to be the one that talked the most. The third man towered over all of his companions.His skin was very dark, as were his hair and eyes.He was built like a tank and his eyes gleamed with ferocious intensity, all though otherwise his face was devoid of emotion.

"Why hasn't that damned portal closed yet Pollo?"The leader demanded again.

The blonde shrugged."Like I said Sidon I don't know."

"Not good enough!" Sidon snapped."Go find out!"

There was a flash of light from the cave and all four turned to look behind them.All was quiet save for the sound of the rain against the leaves and the ground.Footsteps could be heard 

from inside the cave and the four fighters warily got ready for anything.Well, almost anything.

A small girl, no more than twelve years old, with bright red hair and strange gold speckled violet eyes emerged from the cave.Next to Vegeta Chryseis stifled an exclamation of shock.

The other warriors, however, did not.

"What the hell?" demanded Sidon.

"How'd she get here?" asked the woman, Thena.

"Hey isn't she...?" Pollo began.

The dark skinned giant finished, "Bryseus."

Sidon gave the girl an annoyed look."What are you doing here, kid?"

"Vengeance," the girl replied coldly."Chryseis is directly responsible for my brother's death and I mean to have my retribution by beating her miserable hide."The girl sounded nothing like a girl should sound.Her voice was like steel, her eyes, which should have held childlike innocence, were bitter and far too cynical.

Chryseis shivered.

"Listen, kid, this is no place for you, so why don't you just go back?" said Thena condescendingly.

"I will have Chryseis' blood, make no mistake about that.I want her head," the girl said.

"What are you saying, Bryseus?" 

The five newcomers turned as Chryseis stood up, followed by Vegeta, who was cursing Chryseis under his breath; what was she thinking?

"Chryseis!" Bryseus hissed, anger pulsing almost palpably from her.

"I asked you a question, little sister," Chryseis said, a note of sadness in her voice.

Bryseus snarled, "Don't you call me that.I was once like your little sister, but not anymore! You let him die you bitch!"

"Yeah, well this is all well and good kiddies, but we've got a job to do," said Pollo.

"You read my mind," Vegeta sneered."Though, unless you want to get your pretty face rearranged, I suggest you give up."

The dark skinned man snickered. 

"Shut up Ades!" Pollo said defensively.He turned back to Vegeta."Listen, old man, you obviously have no idea what you're dealing with.You do have a lot of power, but heh... you are nothing compared to us.We are the King's elite forces, the best of the best, the strongest of the strong..."

"Pollo, cork it," Sidon ordered. 

Pollo corked it.

Sidon turned to Chryseis."I don't know what you were thinking, or if you were even thinking at all, but it makes no difference now.Either you come quietly with us, or we kill you."

Just then Tien, Chaotzu landed directly behind Chryseis.They looked grim.

"I'd like to suggest option number three," Chryseis said evenly, "you guys all go home now, and my friends and I don't hand you your asses in neatly wrapped gift boxes."

Sidon shook his head."I don't mean to demean your talents, Chryseis, but what are you and three natives going to do against us?"

"Just come quietly, Chryseis, you don't need to make this harder than it has to be," said Thena.

Chryseis stood adamant."No.You are wrong this time, my old comrades, the King is wrong this time.I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry we have to do this Chryseis, I don't want to hurt you," Pollo said.

Bryseus snarled."I don't care what you do to the natives, but Chryseis is mine!" she leapt at Chryseis, aiming a punch at her jaw, but Chryseis easily blocked the girl's pitiful attack.

"Bryseus!" Chryseis shouted, defending herself from the young girl's onslaught, "Stop it!"

Bryseus didn't answer and the fight continued.Chryseis restricted herself to blocking Bryseus' blows, not wanting to hurt the girl.

Sidon turned to Vegeta."Are you going to forfeit now, or do we kill you?" he asked.

Vegeta laughed harshly."I don't know who you are or how the hell Chryseis knows you, but I'm more than a match for all of you."He smiled coldly and powered up into Super Saiyan, then onto Super Saiyan level two.

"What the...?" Thena shouted.

"Oh, did I surprise you?" Vegeta said, still smiling as he slammed his right fist into Sidon's face and then his left elbow into Thena's stomach.Both warriors fell to their knees.A well-placed kick sent Pollo flying into Ades and both men tumbled to the ground.

Sidon spat and snarled at Vegeta."A good shot, but still nothing that I can't handle."He powered up, becoming illuminated by blue-green flame.

Pollo added, "Yeah, you got to put on your pretty light show, so now it's our turn."Yellow energy swirled around Pollo.

Thena put a hand to her stomach as she stood up and silver energy enveloped her.She stood straight-backed and proud."We are the greatest fighters out dimension has ever produced.We will defeat you."

Ades just smiled grimly as black energy crackled along his body.

They attacked from all sides.

"Don't just stand there you dolts!" Vegeta shouted to Tien and Chaotzu as he blocked a flurry of punches and kicks."One of you go pull that rabid brat off of Chryseis and the other take on a couple of these bastards!"

Tien nodded briefly and jumped into the fray, knocking Thena and Pollo to one side and leaving Vegeta to deal with Sidon and Ades.Chaotzu grabbed onto Bryseus and pulled her away from Chryseis.A blow to the back of the girl's head sent her sprawling into the mud unconscious.

"Thanks, little man," Chryseis murmured, checking the girl over carefully."Get her out of the way and then come in a lend a hand!" She picked Bryseus up and handed her to Chaotzu who deposited her well away from the battle.By the time the tiny warrior got back to the fight Chryseis had taken Thena off of Tien's hands.

"Woohoo!" Pollo shouted, "A cat fight! Get her, Thena, knock her head..." his tirade was interrupted when Tien punched him in the face. 

Chaotzu rushed at Ades, noting that though the dark-skinned man was the largest out of the group he was not the strongest."You should have gone home when you could have," Choatzu said.

Ades blinked and laughed."What are you going to do to me?" He asked.

Chaotzu fanned his fingers out in front of his face, "SOLAR FLARE!"

A bright light illuminated the forest, ricocheting off of each and every raindrop.Tien, Vegeta and Chryseis knew to close their eyes, the enemy warriors did not.They shouted and put their hands over their eyes, trying to get rid of the searing pain.

"Damn you to the deepest hells!" Pollo screamed, swiping ineffectively at Tien."You little cheaters!"

"Cool down Pollo!" Thena ordered, squeezing her eyes shut."You don't need to see him 

to fight him!" To demonstrated her point Thena grabbed hold of Chryseis' arm and swung her into the ground.

"Bad move, midget," Ades snarled as his vision began to clear.He grinned coldly and punch Chaotzu solidly in the face, sending him flying backward and through several trees.

Busy with Pollo, Tien could only wince and hope that his friend could hold out.

Meanwhile Vegeta and Sidon had risen into the leaden sky, circling one another as they flew higher and higher.The goings on below were unknown to the two warriors.None of that mattered.They had chosen their opponents and now it was time to see what kind of stuff they were made of.

"So you're the one Chryseis was always going on about," Sidon remarked."Funny, I thought you'd be taller."

"From what Chryseis told me," Vegeta replied evenly, "I thought you'd be stronger."

"You don't seem like much yourself.Chryseis must be in the habit of exaggerating." 

Vegeta grinned evilly."If she was talking about me, she wasn't exaggerating." 

With that the two warriors flew at one another.

______________________________________________________________________________

Ooooh! How strange and new! An author's note at the bottom of the page!

Okay, time for the noting.

Due to the tremendous volume of people who wanted me to add onto my V/B story AloneI decided to make a little sequel to it, entitled Time Heals All Wounds.If you like Alone you ought to like it's sequel, and if you haven't read any of my other stuff, do it for heaven's sake!

Oh and please review, I like to know what you people think of me and my writing.Flames are welcome because they tell me I'm doing something wrong, however compliments and other lovely things like that are even more welcome.


	9. Whirlpool

In the rain and mud Chryseis fought Thena into the ground, raining punishing blows on the taller woman's stomach and head

In the rain and mud Chryseis fought Thena into the ground, raining punishing blows on the taller woman's stomach and head.Thena backed farther and father toward the cave opening, until her back was against the stone wall on the outside.

"This doesn't have to be, Thena," Chryseis said. "Leave now and I won't kill you."

Thena spat a mouthful of bloody saliva and rasped, "You've forgotten what it is to be a warrior, Chryseis.I'm bound to serve the King by honor, and serve him I will, even of it means killing you or dying in the attempt."She thrust her hands out in front of her."HAWK'S TALON!" Silver energy erupted from her outstretched hands and burned through the air toward Chryseis from point blank range.The blast struck home, catching Chryseis in the stomach and tossing her like a leaf through a clump of trees.The smell of ozone and smoke filled the air as the dust settled.At the end of a long furrow in the earth Chryseis stood, her body crackling with golden power.Her hair, tied tightly back in a braid, snapped and danced in the currents of energy around her body as if it had a life of its own.Deciding that enough was enough she had become a Super Saiyan.

"You've been holding back," Thena accused Chryseis.She laughed."Well so have I!" She screamed as she was once again engulfed in silver energy.Her muscles bulged briefly then shrank back down to their normal size, though now three times the earlier amount of her energy coursed through every part of her body.

"Naughty, naughty, Thena you know better than that," Chryseis chided her mockingly.

The two combatants rushed at one another again.Chryseis ducked under Thena's initial blow and punched the taller woman in the stomach.Thena backed away quickly enough to lessen the impact of the blow and snapped a kick at Chryseis' chin.Chryseis ducked and grabbed Thena's leg.

"Looks like I've got you," Chryseis said, smirking. 

Thena snarled and shot a ki blast at Chryseis.

Chryseis dodged each blast with ease."You never were my equal, not really, and now, with the power I have gained, you are nothing compared to me."She squeezed Thena's ankle and swung her into the air."Time to say goodnight, Thena."She cupped her hands and pointed them at Thena and fired a tremendous ki blast. 

Thena tried to right herself as she sailed through the air, succeeding seconds before Chryseis' blast caught her full in the chest.She screamed briefly and then blackness took her.

Chryseis smiled in a satisfied way and Thena plummeted back down the earth, her clothing smoking and leaving a crater in the muddy ground.The fallen warrior's chest rose and fell in a shallow, but steady rhythm."Now the only question, Thena old friend, is whether or not I kill you now," she murmured.She gave the battlefield a quick perusal and decided that she was needed elsewhere."Lucky you, you get to live... for now."

Tien wiped blood off of his forehead and appraised his situation.That he was in trouble was his only conclusion.Apparently Pollo, who had at first thought to be a relatively weak opponent, was a lot stronger than he had anticipated.The only thing that made the fight even halfway winnable was the fact the Pollo wasn't all that great at resisting Suppression.Then again Tien was far from a master of Suppression and Pollo had twenty some odd years of experience behind him as well as a good deal of talent.Tien only had moderate talent for Suppression and four months of experience and only two months of that had been combat training.

"Ready to give up yet?" Pollo taunted.The golden-eyed man only had a few bruises in comparison to Tien's many scrapes, bruise, cuts and burns.

It's all only minor damage though, Tien thought, I've come back from worse."I never give up," he replied, narrowing all three of his eyes.

Pollo laughed. "Stubborn.If you weren't the enemy I'd be glad to have you fight by my side, but the King says that this world is the one he wants to conquer, so here I am.Too bad Chryseis got you mixed up in this. You would have been tested for Suppression ability once we were in control here.You could have been a sector Lord or a high ranked warrior."

"I would die fighting to say my world from you before I ever let that happen," Tien retorted."I was the puppet of an evil man once, and I have no desire to be a puppet ever again." He formed a triangle with the thumb and forefingers of his two outstretch hands."Now die!" A beam of energy shot out of the space between Tien's hands.

Pollo's eyes widened as he saw the blast coming at him and he crossed his arms in front of his body, throwing up a ki shield at the same time.He was lucky; he only took half of the blast's full power.Despite that he was still thrown backward into the cliff that surrounded the cave and was buried in the rock wall.

Tien fired the Shin Kikoho twice more, shoving Pollo farther into the rock and collapsing the cliff around him.Having learned from experience not to celebrate before the dust clears, Tien waited for Pollo to emerge from the rubble.He might not have bothered, because though Pollo did blast his way out from underneath a pile of stones, once free he promptly passed out.

Chryseis landed next to Tien."Good job, go see if your little friend needs help, I'm going to make sure that if Sidon gets by Vegeta he doesn't get any further."She leapt into the air and flew up to keep an eye on Sidon and Vegeta.

Chaotzu was feeling a little overwhelmed.Maybe, he though, just maybe it wasn't the best

idea to take on the biggest guy all by himself.Still, he was hanging in there.Ades' fighting style 

was simple enough, overwhelm the opponent with sheer mass and powerful attacks.The problem with that was that powerful attacks like the ones Ades favored were slow, giving a smaller opponent like Chaotzu, who was not as powerful but far faster, time to block and then get in a few weaker, but quicker, attacks while Ades recovered.For every blow that Ades struck, Chaotzu got in five, but Chaotzu's five attacks were all together just as damaging, and sometimes less damaging that Ades' one.

The one place other than speed where Chaotzu held a real advantage was his ability to remain in control of his emotions while using Suppression.That was partly because Chaotzu hardly had a hateful bone in his entire body and partly because most of his talents were linked to telepathy and telekinesis.Ades, though as stoic as a rock, did not have that sort of control, and while some warriors, like Chryseis, could keep Suppressing an opponent after they lost control of their anger, Ades could not.

Too bad Chaotzu didn't know about that.He fired off several ki blasts at the same time Ades advanced.The blasts caught Ades in the chest and stomach, but the tall dark-skinned man kept coming.Chaotzu put a little more concentration into Suppression and knocked Ades' down a notch or two, but because he had to take energy out his attacks and focus it into other areas Chaotzu's next attacks actually did less damage than the previous ones.

Frustrated the small fighter retreated.He knew that if Ades ever got hold of him he was 

as good as crushed.Chaotzu could not grapple with Ades and hope to win.That meant that he had to stay out of Ades' reach for the most part by using long-ranged attacks and then every so often dart in for a little hand-to-hand.

"Give up little man," Ades growled, his deep voice echoing in the rain like thunder.

"No chance," Chaotzu replied.

Oblivious to the rain, Vegeta and Sidon fought like demons.Each blow, each block, each movement was countered, and each counter was countered.Had they not been using Suppression Vegeta would have won easily, and had Vegeta not known Suppression Sidon would have won with equal ease, but as it was they were perfectly matched in strength.Only experience and battle savvy would win this fight.And that was how both fighters wanted it.Simple brute strength was overrated.

The two enemies both punched at the same time and their fists met with a resounding CRACK.At the same time both of their free hands came up and their hands locked.Dark eyes met light, but the same fire crackled within both gazes as the two warriors retreated in tandem and paused to reassess the situation

"Chryseis wasn't mistaken when she said you were a great fighter," Sidon panted, his green eyes narrowing."However, great fighters are a dime a dozen in my world.Only the elite of my people are allowed to join the King's Guard, the force that I command, and of all those elite I am the greatest. Can you boast the same?"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow.He laughed harshly."You think you're hot shit don't you?You have no goddamned clue what elite is.Stop posturing, boy, and fight!"He flew at Sidon, grabbed the taller man by the elbow and swung him into the ground.

Sidon got to his feet, his green jumpsuit muddied and torn.He rose back into the air with remarkable speed and threw a punch at Vegeta's stomach.Vegeta blocked his attack and shot backwards in the air.

"Are you running away?" Sidon demanded coldly."I never figured you for a coward.

Vegeta smirked evilly.He raised one flattened palm into the air and aimed at Sidon."Enough playing around," he snarled."BIG BANG ATTACK!" Tremendous energy shot from 

Vegeta's hand.

Sidon spread his arms out as if defenseless."Yes, time to stop playing," he agreed quietly. Then he shouted, "WHIRLPOOL!" Energy circled around him, pulling Vegeta's attack off course and around Sidon's body.

At first Vegeta thought that Sidon intended to shoot the attack right back at him, but he quickly realized that he was greatly mistaken.Sidon pulled the energy attack into a tighter and tighter circle, compressing it until it had shrunk to the size of a grapefruit.Smiling, Sidon opened his mouth as if to say something, and the energy shot inside.Normally Sidon's body would have been damaged beyond his ability to cope with and continue fighting the moment the energy from Vegeta's attack touched him, but the nature of Sidon's own technique allowed him to wrapped the harmful ki with his own, changing it, molding it, and making it palatable to his body.The blue-green aura around Sidon's body expanded as his body incorporated the stolen energy.

He threw back his head and laughed."Yes, it is indeed time to stop playing around."

______________________________________________________________________________

When I looked at this section at first I thought to myself, "Hey, it seems to me that the good guys are having a way too easy time with this." After all weren't the bad guys from Chryseis dimension supposed to be pretty hot stuff?So I went back and I 'fixed' a few things (insert evil grin here).I don't think I've defied any big laws of anime physics or anything, and I don't think I broke one of the Evil Overlord Rules (No matter how much it will increase my power I will not ingest any energy field bigger than my head.Insert another evil grin here).

The Blue Sorceress


	10. Endgame

Everything stopped except for the rain, and in fact the rain seemed to thunder down even harder.Aside from the rain the only noise to be heard was Sidon's malevolent laughter as he felt stolen strength course through his body.His skin tingled, his hair stood on end and his eyes took on an unnatural glow.It was a feeling that defied any words that Sidon might have put to it.It was sheer ecstasy, beyond anything that he could have imagined.

Hovering in the sky not far away Vegeta watched Sidon's face contort in an insidious smile.A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.This was bad, very, very bad.Infuriated, he pushed all doubts and dark thoughts aside and concentrated on trying to find a way to defeat Sidon in spite of this new development.

Seemingly out of nowhere Chryseis appeared at his side, her eyes wide with shock and horror."He couldn't do that before," she said."How the hell can he do that? Shit! He shouldn't be able to do that!"

"Calm down!" Vegeta hissed."You won't be able to do any good if you lose your head.Now suck it up."

Chryseis took a deep breath and calmed down."All right, all right, there has got to be a way to get around this.We can just beat him down with our fists, right? How much power did he get from that blast?"

"I put as much into it as I thought would kill him."

"In other words, a lot?"

"Something like that."

"Oh shit," Chryseis muttered.

Down below Tien and Chaotzu had stopped their joint attack on Ades and were gazing skyward.Ades' eyes were also focused upward, blinking furiously as rain pelted his upturned face. The tall dark man chuckled and turned to his two opponents.

"You," Ades predicted with dire certainty, "are dead."

Tien's mouth hardened into a fine line and he narrowed his eyes."We're not done for yet," he retorted."You haven't seen the half of it."

"Neither have you," Ades replied.In his hands formed a wicked-looking black ki-scythe.He brandished the weapon and charged at the two smaller fighters.

Tien and Chaotzu dodged, the blade of the energy scythe missing them by a hairsbreadth.

Ades growled and attacked again, this time nicking Tien's shoulder.Blood trickled out of the wound and mixed with the mud and water on Tien's ragged clothes.Smiling Ades advanced again; swinging the scythe with a speed neither of his opponents could have imagined after all the ponderous, power-packed attacks from earlier.Tien and Chaotzu doubled up on Suppression, but as soon as he let up on resisting Ades' Suppression of him, Chaotzu felt himself weaken considerably.He loosened up again and signaled Tien to follow him in a quick retreat from Ades' blade.

"What do we do now, Tien?" Chaotzu asked, catching his breath and eyeing Ades.

"I don't know," Tien replied.

Up above Chryseis and Vegeta weren't doing a whole lot better fending off Sidon's attacks.Sidon caught Chrysies by the left elbow and twisted her arm until he heard bone snap.Chryseis screamed and swung wildly at Sidon with her free, desperate to get him to let go.She kicked him in the gut as hard as she could, but he only squeezed her shattered arm until she cried out again.

"Look at how you have fallen, oh mighty Chry..." the rest of Sidon's mocking words were cut off as Vegeta planted his foot directly on Sidon's nose.The sound of crunching cartilage followed soon after and Sidon let go of Chryseis and grabbed at his face, blood oozing through his fingers. 

Chryseis' left arm hung limply at her side, but her right hand was clenched into a fist so tight that her knuckles turned white."Fuck!" She swore."Bastard! You're going to get it back tenfold you asshole!"

Sidon wiped the blood off of his face, but more kept coming.The rain washed the blood down his neck and chest."Come and get me, little girl," he taunted."I'm not afraid of you or your friend."

The golden auras around both Chryseis and Vegeta flared up brighter than before.

"Let's turn him inside out," Vegeta snarled, a deadly gleam in his eyes.

Chryseis gave an inarticulate roar and the two Super Saiyans charged Sidon.The tall green-eyed man blocked every punch and then lashed out, power raged around him as he smashed Chryseis into the muddy ground below and then turned about to kick Vegeta in the chest, sending him flying backward.Chryseis struggled to her feet and bolted toward Sidon again as Vegeta righted himself.

"Stay back!" Vegeta shouted.

Chryseis continued her assault, disregarding Vegeta's words.Sidon had mocked her, was mocking her, and for that he would pay.

Laughing, Sidon batted Chryseis attacks away one handed."Pathetic!" He shouted, throwing Chryseis into the mud again.

Doggedly, Chryseis stood up again, she started up toward Sidon again, but Vegeta caught her and held her back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Chryseis demanded, trying to pull out of Vegeta's viselike grasp.

"We can't defeat him like this, you idiot!" Vegeta snapped at her in a whisper."You're getting weaker every time he hits you and so am I.Stop acting like a child for a moment and think! There has to be another way! What are his weaknesses? What makes him angry? What will distract him? Think!"

Chryseis glared at him, blood streaming down her face."I don't think he has any."

"Everyone has weaknesses!"

"Oh, children," Sidon called down to them, "what are you talking about? Not me I hope.Don't you know it's not nice to talk about people when they can't hear?"

Chryseis clenched her right fist."God damn it!" She swore.

"Don't pay any attention to him, damn you! Can he be tricked?The man has to have a weakness!"

Chryseis frowned."He... I don't think he can resist Suppression from more than three sources at once, his mind doesn't split like that, but unless Tien and Chaotzu finish up with Ades real quick they won't be in any shape to help us."

"Wait a minute!" Vegeta said suddenly,"I thought that you could only Suppress one person at a time. Why the hell isn't this guy dying? He's only Suppressing me, not you!We should have been able to kill him!"

"We probably could've killed him easily if he hadn't absorbed that blast and turned it for his own use." Chryseis looked forlornly up at Sidon's grinning face.

"Do you think he'd absorb more energy if we gave him the chance?" Vegeta asked, an idea beginning to take shape.

"Yeah but what good would feeding him more energy do?"

Vegeta smiled tightly."Look at him, he's barely able to keep all that stolen ki under control, if we can get him to take in more..."

Chryseis' eyes widened."He'll burn up from the inside out," she whispered, not daring to let Sidon hear."Do you think we can do it?"

Vegeta nodded. "On three give it everything you've got," he said as he leapt into the air. 

Chryseis followed close behind, her gut tightening.It was a stretch, but there was a slim that Sidon did not know everything about his power and that he might be tricked into absorbing more ki than he could handle. The two battered warriors circled their enemy and prepared to attack. 

Vegeta thrust his hands out in front of him,"One..."

Chryseis good hand went out in front of her as well, power crackling along her fingers as she charged up her attack.

"Two..."

"Oh look they think they can hurt me with their little ki-attacks, how pitiful!" Sidon mocked. 

Vegeta pushed Sidon's snide remark out of his mind and concentrated all his power into his attack.If this failed he would have nothing left to fight Sidon with, and the battle would be over."THREE!" He shouted."FINAL FLASH!"

"SUPERNOVA BLAZE!" Chryseis shouted at the same time.From her hand a thick beam shot toward Sidon and at the same time Vegeta gathered the last ergs of his strength and blasted at Sidon with all he had.

Sidon cried out, "WHIRLPOOL!" Thinking to repeat the same trick as before. As the spiral of energy drew the attacks toward him and he sucked them into his body he felt his body fill with energy.His skin began to tingle again, but then, as the energy continued into his body, his skin began to burn."What the...?!" He shouted.Pain shot through him as his body began to break down from all the excess power that was flowing through him.The whirlpool technique could only protect him from so much energy before whatever it could not wrap up broke down Sidon's body, but relatively inexperienced using the technique, Sidon had not known his limits.He screamed in agony as his internal organs burnt up inside his body, and then the scream cut off as his lungs and heart were turned to ash.A brilliant explosion of fire erupted from his chest and mouth and eyes as he was consumed by the stolen energy.

To exhausted to stay in the air, Vegeta and Chryseis dropped out of Super Saiyan and crashed to the ground.They lay in the mud, breathing hard as the rain battered their bodies.

Some one hundred yards away Tien and Chaotzu were trying their hardest to defeat Ades and having little luck.Seeing the trouble Tien and Chaotzu were in, Chryseis tried to get to her feet, but her legs wouldn't hold her and she collapsed onto the ground again. 

"If they get beaten," she said as she stared up into the rainy sky, "if they get beaten Ades will kill us.Have you got enough strength left to use Suppression on Ades?"

Vegeta nodded slightly."Not much.My concentration's shot."

"So's mine, but we only need a little."

"Trouble is," Vegeta observed tiredly, "that when that giant realizes we're Suppressing him he'll come over here and finish us.Three-Eyes and Mime-Boy are going to have to move fast."

"Damned if we do damned if we don't, heh?"Chryseis rasped."Ready to give it a go?"

"Yes."

Chryseis closed her eyes and took a deep breath.Her mind moved slowly, like a languid, mud-filled river.She wanted to fall asleep, or pass out, or something, but she forced herself to concentrate.She reached out with her mind and caught the faintest reflection of Ades' ki, tried to block it, then lost it again.Reaching out again she caught onto Ades once more and this time her mental grasp held.Slowly and carefully she applied Suppression, surprised at how weak she had become because she was exhausted.

At the same time Vegeta reached out with his mind and latched onto Ades' ki.It was like when he had first been learning Suppression, like trying to dam a flooding river with twigs and pebbles,but he tried harder and eventually he noticed Ades' defenses had been seriously damaged._Ten times harder for every person trying to Suppress you,_ he thought _weakly, the big guy has four people on him now, he's got to fall soon.He'd better fall soon, I don't think I can do this for much longer._

Ades' turned suddenly as he felt Chryseis and Vegeta apply Suppression to him.Knocking Chaotzu away for the moment, the tall dark-skinned warrior started running towards where Chryseis and Vegeta lay.In that one moment of distraction and weakness for Ades Tien shot a ki blast at the taller warrior's back.Ades turned again, thinking he could bat this attack away like he had done so many others, but this time he was wrong.The beam of energy drilled through Ades' hand and into his chest.Eyes wide, Ades touched one hand to his chest and brought it away covered in blood.He opened his mouth, as if to say something, then coughed and fell to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth.

Tien lowered his hand and walked over to Chaotzu to help him up.The small fighter gladly accepted his friend's assistance and together the two of them made their was over to Vegeta and Chryseis.

"Thanks for the timely intervention," Tien said.

"Ditto," Chryseis murmured.

"Can you two fly?" Tien asked, eyeing them appraisingly.

Chryseis' reply was faint."I don't know about him," she indicated Vegeta by rolling her eyes his direction, "but I'll be lucky if I can even twitch for the rest of the day."

"I'll be able to twitch around noon," Vegeta mumbled.

Chaotzu knelt by Chryseis injured arm and examined it."This looks bad."

"Eh? That? Gah, just a flesh wound..."

Chaotzu gently prodded her shattered elbow.

"Don't touch!" Chryseis squeaked.

"Yeah, this is bad," Chaotzu proclaimed.

"Don't touch!" Chryseis repeated. 

"Um... we have a problem," Tien muttered.

Vegeta opened one eye and peered up at Tien."What? What do you mean 'a problem'?Spill it Three-Eyes!" He managed to sound demanding despite the fact that he could barely be heard.

"That woman is getting up," Tien answered, pointing. 

Thena had struggled to her feet and was now walking unsteadily toward them.Her eyes, however, were not focused on the four battered warriors, but instead on the still figure of Ades slumped in the mud. She seemed to whisper something, her mouth forming the words, "Oh no," but no sound came out.She walked faster, tripping and falling and then pulling herself to her feet again only to fall a second time as she neared the body of her fallen friend.She dragged herself the rest of the way to Ades' side and turned him so that he lay on his back, his dead eyes staring at the sky.

This time Thena spoke, her voice ragged."No, Ades! Oh no, no, no!" She sobbed, wiping the blood off of his face."Oh gods no, not you!"She screamed and stood, her body fueled by grief, and stared purposefully toward the four enemy warriors."You made your last mistake, Chryseis de Curion.You never should have let me live a second longer if you were planning on taking Ades from me.Now you die!"

A ball of energy shot through the rain and struck home.Chryseis prepared herself for death, but was surprised to find that it didn't come.Thena clutched her hands to her stomach, blood seeping between her fingers, a shocked look on her face.Her eyes fixed on a figure hovering in the sky above Chryseis.She fell to her knees, her gaze still locked on the sky, and slumped back against Ades.

"So now I die with you, my love," Thena whispered.Her eyes closed and she went limp as her spirit slipped free of her body.

The figure in the air landed next to Chryseis followed by several other people.

"I thought we wouldn't get here in time," Yamcha said, crouching down to see if Chryseis was all right.She wasn't, he observed.

"Where'd you come from?" Chryseis slurred, the last of her strength choosing that moment to begin to seep out of her. 

"When Trunks and Bra felt your ki all but disappear they panicked and came looking for us," said Goku from the front of the group."We ran into them halfway here."

"Who's we?" Vegeta demanded.

"Me, Gohan, Yamcha and Krillin," Goku replied."Trunks is here too, but he sent Bra home when he saw us."

"Whoa! We've got a live one here!" Exclaimed Krillin from near the collapsed cave.

"Gotta be Pollo," Chryseis said."There's one more, a girl, out there," she pointed feebly 

toward the place where Chaotzu had stashed Bryseus, "get her and bring her over here."

"I'll do it," Gohan volunteered, he dashed off in the direction Chryseis had pointed.

"What do we do about this guy?" Trunks wanted to know, keeping an eye on Pollo, just in case he decided to try something, if he woke up that is.

"Don't kill him.He's gotta take Bryseus back.Can't have her here, too dangerous." Chryseis voice wavered and she closed her eyes sleepily.

Goku knelt down and pulled a senzu bean out of the pouch on his belt and gave one to Chryseis, and then Vegeta, who was too exhausted to argue.The two sat up, feeling their strength flow back into their bodies as the senzu beans took affect.Meanwhile Goku handed a senzu to Tien and Chaotzu as well.

Gohan arrived, carrying a limp Bryseus in his arms.Chryseis took the girl from him as she stood up. 

"Thank you," Chryseis said.She turned to Goku, "give a tiny bit of one of those to the blonde man over there," she said, indicating Pollo.

Vegeta frowned."Not a smart idea, girl," he said.

"I have to get Bryseus back to our world somehow, and if I went there's a damn good chance they'd have an ambush or something set," Chryseis argued."Everyone back there is out to kill me now, so it'd be too dangerous. Besides which, this battle may be over, but we're going to have to go to my world and destroy the machine that brought her and the others here. If I get caught or killed there'll be no way to stop them."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed."Neither is sending one of them back," he said.

"Pollo won't be able to fight tomorrow, and if we're going to destroy that machine tomorrow is when we'll have to go," Chryseis said.

Vegeta's only reply was a grunt of disapproval.

Goku gave a fraction of one of the senzu beans to Pollo, and the blonde warrior woke up.His golden eyes opened wide as he stumbled to his feet, just barely able to function.His eyes roamed around the battlefield.Ades and Thena dead, no sign of Sidon, so he's probably dead too, he thought.His gaze came to rest on Chryseis, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu, seemingly oblivious to the others."You're going to get it for doing this to us!" He threatened.

"Pollo, you don't have to die," Chryseis said."They wouldn't stop, so they had to die, but you don't.Give up, Pollo, you can't win." She approached carrying Bryseus and handed the girl to Pollo."Go home."

Pollo glared at Chryseis as he took Bryseus into his arms."You're a traitor, and I swear, by all that's sacred in this world and all the other worlds ever created I'll kill you."

"You could never touch me, Pollo.Go, take Bryseus and go."

Pollo snarled and reached one-handed into his jumpsuit to retrieve a hard-cased metal controller."Recall code Beta-Zero-Three," he said into the controller,"engage." A swirl of darkness enveloped him and when it was gone, so was Pollo.

Chryseis watched the spot where he had been for a moment.She should have been happy that she had won the battle, but instead her heart felt heavy.She turned to look at the bodies of Ades and Thena, people who had once been, if not her friends, at least her allies and fellow warriors."C'mon," she said to the others, "we've got to bury these two and then go home to figure out how we're going to destroy that machine tomorrow."

______________________________________________________________________________

Yehaw! 

Here's the news, folks: I've got maybe two or three more chapters to plunk down and then sadly, my story will be done.

In case you were wondering about the names of the enemy warriors, I altered the names of ancient Greek gods to get them.Here's the breakdown: Sidon is Poseidon, god of the sea and storms etc;Ades is Hades, god of the underworld; Thena is Athena, goddess of wisdom and righteous battle and Pollo is Apollo, god of the sun and music etc.Ingenious, huh?

Well keep your eye open for the rest of this story and its sequel.

The Blue Sorceress 


	11. Bitterness

Bryseus lay awake in a cold, brightly lit room with a homely doctor hovering over her.Her head ached like crazy. 

"Who would have thought," she wondered out loud, "that such a squirt could pack such a 

punch.

A man barged into the hospital room, pushed the homely doctor to the side and shoved his equally homely face right into Bryseus'."You're in big trouble young lady.You shouldn't have interfered," was all the man said.

"Oh shove off, ugly," Bryseus muttered."You're going to be glad I did interfere when I tell you what I know."

"Your information is suspect, you're the sister of traitor."

Bryseus' lips curled back in an ugly snarl."And with this information the woman who caused my brother's death can be captured and killed.Don't think I have any sympathy for her.All I want is my chance to kill her, fair and square.I'll do anything to get that chance."

The ugly man narrowed his eyes."What d'you mean?" He demanded.

"I heard all their plans," Bryseus said confidentially."They thought I was still unconscious, but I was faking so I could kill Chryseis when she wasn't on her guard, but there were too many people around.They're going to attack the research facility where the machine you yokels built is housed and they're going to destroy it. "

"How do you know this?"

Bryseus gave an exasperated sigh."Didn't you listen, you blockhead? They thought I was out cold so they discussed their plans.I listened in and now I'm giving you their plans. All I ask, and it's not a hell of a lot, is that you let me kill her.I want my revenge, and by my honor I will have it."

Chryseis stared around the kitchen at Capsule Corp, her eyes falling on the people that stood or sat around her.To her direct right sat Vegeta, who scowled thoughtfully into his cup of coffee as Chryseis outlined her plan.To her left was Tien and to his left was Chaotzu.The rest of the people, were arrayed in a sort of circle around the room.Goku, Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo, who had arrived at Capsule Corp soon after Chryseis and the rest, stood opposite her, while Trunks and Bra, who insisted on attending the meeting, leaned against a cupboard and wandered around the room respectively.Yamcha stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame in an attempt to look relaxed.

"So that's how it's going to work," Chryseis finished, folding her hands on her lap and waiting for the inevitable flurry of questions.She was disappointed.

Finally Piccolo spoke up."When did you come up with this plan?" He asked, giving Chryseis his usual enigmatic look.

"Coming back from the battle was when I worked out the details, but I knew we'd have to destroy the machines before I even came here," Chryseis answered. 

"Um..." Gohan began with a frown, "what if your world sends more people through the portal before you can destroy it?What are we supposed to do? From the way that battlefield looked I'm convinced that without Suppression even Dad or I wouldn't be able to hold more warriors off."

Chryseis nodded."I know, which is why we're going to leave as soon as we can.Tomorrow morning at five o'clock is when the first major shift change of the day occurs inside the research facility that houses the portal generator.During that time there about fifteen minutes when there are only half as many guard as usual.Only then can the four of us," she indicated herself, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu, "accomplish our respective missions. Meanwhile the machine will be recharging from it use today, so it should be inactive and you guys should be out of danger.If worse comes to worse I can pop back here and help out, but... well if they can get enough people through even with me and the others you won't stand a chance."

"So what you're saying," Goku said, "is that until that shift change tomorrow we can only hope that they don't get that machine recharged so they can send in an army?"

"That's the sum of it, yeah," Chryseis said.

"I don't like this," Krillin muttered."I want to be able to do something to help, but I'm as good as useless in this fight."

"Cheer up, Krillin, so am I," Goku said, patting his friend on the back."It's no big deal.We can hope that they only send a few people, if they send any people at all, and in that case we can just... swamp them.They might have Suppression on their side, but if we have numbers we could win since one person can only Suppress on other person at a time."

Chryseis gave Goku a polite nod."He's right, unfortunately after the lack of success they had sending a small force in today I don't think they'll skimp on numbers a second time." She paused to gather her thoughts."I guess what I wanted you all to be here for is your consent to go through with this plan.It is your world after all, not mine, and I figure you know it better than I do.I don't want to leave you undefended, but as I see it this is the only way."

"If it's the only way I'm not going to try and argue with it," Goku said.Gohan nodded his agreement with his father.

Piccolo said, "There are always flaws in plans thought up at the last minute, and this is no exception, but like you I see no other way."

"Man, this is nuts, but I'm going to go with the others," Krillin said.

"I'm all for it," Yamcha said, the first time he had spoken during the meeting."I wish... I wish there was something more I could do, but..." he shrugged. 

Tien looked at Chryseis, "I'm part of the plan, I can't back out now.I don't think I could with a clear conscience anyway."

Chaotzu added, "I'm in, no matter what."

Chryseis turned to Vegeta, who was still scowling into his coffee cup, as silent as stone.He looked up, his dark gaze flashing across the room."Yeah, I'm in."

Chryseis smirked."Good," she said."you couldn't have said 'no' anyway, but it's still good that you're helping out willingly."

Vegeta glared at her and muttered something about how he hated 'morning people'.

Chryseis pointedly ignored him.

The meeting broke up and people began to go back to their own homes and lives.Outside Chryseis saw Tien and Chaotzu off, admonishing them to take it easy for the day.The triclops and the small warrior nodded and promised they would take her advice before they took off.Yamcha was about to leave as well when Chryseis caught him by the arm, stopping him.

She scratched the back of her head and said, "Thanks for helping out back there, I would have been toast if Thena had hit me."

Yamcha cracked a small smile and replied."No big deal.I'm just glad I was able to do something." He paused as if working up the courage to say something."Sometimes I wonder if all that stuff in Ra'n K'ir was worth it, you know? I get to feeling like I'm still pretty much useless, and it seems like this," he touched the red wolf paw-print that marked his upper right arm, "is just a lie."

"Well if you really believe that you're stupid," Chryseis said with conviction."I've never heard of dream demons attacking in the Ra'n K'ir waking world before, I'm sure I told you that, so either it never happened before or nobody ever survived it before. Whichever way you go the fact that we both got out is impressive.And as far as usefulness... I'm glad you showed up today."

"If I hadn't it would have been one of the others."

"Sure, it might have been.Hell, it could have been anybody. Is that what you want me to say? Do you want me to tell you that you are useless? Well you're not. Stop wallowing in self-pity, that, after all, is my job."

Yamcha cocked his head and looked at her with an odd expression on his face.What was that, an obscure reference to that guy who died for her? He wondered.He got a look at her face, but any trace of... anything had been wiped away.Her mouth was set once again into its usual unbending line, her brows were contracted together in their usual, thoughtful furrow, and her eyes were narrowed in their usual calculating gaze. She'd put her poker face on and Yamcha wasn't sure if he'd ever see her take it off again.He decided to change the subject.

"So," he began, a little uncertain, "who was that girl out at the battle today?"

Chryseis eyes, if possible, grew even more remote."She was my apprentice.And Xander's little sister.She was there to get revenge for her brother."

"She was attacking those other people then?"

"She was attacking me.She blames me."

Yamcha frowned."You don't blame yourself, do...?"

Chryseis snapped, "Why should I blame myself?I didn't kill him!You're too damned nosy, Yamcha. Mind your own business, you got that?"

The last in a line of sudden reversals for the day, beginning with the battle, Chryseis went from friendly to rabid in less than a few seconds.Taken aback, Yamcha gave her one last troubled look before heading home.Chryseis was in a mood for the rest of the day.

______________________________________________________________________________

And now for an acrimonious little thing I'd like to call an 'Author's Note'.I'm going to stick with what's what here and do a little chatting about this story, then I'll get on to the acrimonious part.

I know the chapters are getting a bit on the short side,but due to a lack of time and also a lack of patience (mine on both accounts) I've been putting up shorter chapters more often.Also I'm just getting out of the part that I had written before I started posting, so I'm dividing things into chapters where I think is a good place to leave off for the time being while I collect my thoughts and not at places where there is a jump in time or activity.Never fear, it will still all get out to you, just in smaller chunks unless I buckle down this weekend and whack out a few more chapters at once so I can post them together.The likelihood of that happening, however, is slim to none because, as I freely admit, I'm lazy.

Here's where things get acrimonious (hostile etc.).

I don't mind criticism, in fact I think good criticism is the only way a writer can get any better, HOWEVER I do not appreciate flames from half-literate, stick-in-the-mud, self-righteous, insert-favorite-swear-word-here, lovey-dovey girls with the a preference for cheap romance novel style stories (i.e. the overwrought hidden emotions type with heaving bosoms, big strong men with a penchant for bursting into tears when alone and such).As you can probably guess I already received such a review (for my story Time Heals All Wounds), and it began with the word, 'yuck' written all in capitals.I sat at my computer, read this review and to it I replied, 'GACK!'Don't get me wrong, I don't expect everybody to like my writing, I do expect, however, that anyone who wants to flame me will at least spell the word 'character' right.It just strikes me that if you're going to criticize someone you ought to at least make sure they can't criticize you for blatant spelling errors.

Just before this particular review I got an example of what a good criticism is.The reviewer kindly pointed out what he or she did not like and sort of evened that out with a few good things he or she had to say as well.I LIKE IT WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT! It's good! It helps the thinking process, and hell, if you do something nice like that I may even be moved to go back and change some things if you've got a good enough case. I actually did that earlier in this story! 

So anyway, to you, the dear girl who replied 'yuck' to my story and then proceeded to offer no real meat to your review other than insults, come back when you can spell, and I'll keep my acrimoniousness to myself so long as you keep yours to yourself.

P.S. Why do they call it PMS? Because 'mad cow disease' was already taken. 

P.P.S. I dare you to spell uncharacteristically, acrimoniousness and vehement without the aid of your computer spell check or a dictionary or anything of that sort.

The Blue Sorceress


	12. In the Wind

While Chryseis skulked around, avoiding everyone, Vegeta paced around the living room like a caged beast.He had a sinking feeling in his gut that something was not right, but he had no idea as to what.He chalked it up to post-battle stress, which always snagged him when he was in between fights like this, knowing what he had to do next, but unable to do it yet. This felt... different though. It was a sick, stomach twisting difference that Vegeta had never known before.It wasn't fear, he knew fear, it was something far more sinister.Fear is the feeling when a person thinks something might go wrong, what Vegeta felt was the feeling that went with knowing something was going to go wrong, but not knowing what that something was. 

And that knowing in itself was frightening.Once before, only once, had he gotten this feeling, the morning he had woken up from the nightmare that had preceded Chryseis' arrival.It was vague, but it was woven throughout the atmosphere, which was heavy and rain-wetted though the thunderstorm had passed an hour since.It contained death, and misery, and sickness, and a host of other things to fleeting to recognize.

Frustrated at his inability to do anything about this strange and unwelcome sense of precognition, Vegeta decided to continue his pacing outside. He walked directly into Chryseis as he was going out the front door and the petite blonde warrior shot him a venomous look.

"Watch where your going!" She snapped.She turned and decided that she would rather stay outside than push past Vegeta to get indoors.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Vegeta returned."You've got eyes, don't you."

"Oh shut up!"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow and followed her as she stormed away from the house."Temper, temper, Chryseis.What happened to that 'morning person' we all know and love so dearly."

"Don't you mock me right now!"

"Then don't walk away from me."

Chryseis whirled around to face him."You're getting nosy!"

"How do you figure that one?"

"You're following me and harassing me. Now go away!" 

"I just came out here to brood in peace, girl, you're the one who ran into me." Vegeta wondered if she felt that strange whatever it was the same as he did."What's gotten into you?"

"None of your damned business!"

"Wrong! It is my business.If you're too distracted to fight tomorrow I'm going on a short, one-way trip to the afterlife.And don't you think that I won't take you with me if it's you're fault.So spill it, girl!"

Chryseis gritted her teeth and glared at him."Right now I don't give a flying fuck whether or not I live until next week, so threats like that are useless," she spat.

"Well with that kind of attitude you won't have to worry.I, however, don't have the luxury of selfishness like that, and if I don't neither do you."

"Selfishness?!" Chryseis demanded.

"You heard me. You're acting like a spoiled child who hasn't gotten her way.I don't know if you noticed but throwing temper tantrums and taking whatever it is you've got on your mind out on me won't do a damn thing."

"You want to know what's on my mind so bad?" Chryseis snarled."Well here it is! That girl that just tried to kill me today -the little redhead- she was my apprentice back at the academy. She was Xander's little sister and she was like my little sister too.Do you know what it's like to have someone you've practically raised since they were just out of diapers decide they want to kill you for something that wasn't your fault? That's what's on my mind! She blames me for Xander's death. Hell, _I_ blame me for Xander's death.Are you happy now that you've humiliated me?I sure as hell hope you are!" She began to leave.

Vegeta wrapped an viselike grip around Chryseis' wrist."I've humiliated you? Shit, girl! Stop being an idiot for a second and think! If you're humiliated you've done it to yourself."

Chryseis jerked out of his grasp and snarled, "Pardon me if I have a soul!" She stomped off in the general direction of the house this time and slammed the front door behind her.

The feeling of uneasiness in the air multiplied tenfold as Vegeta stood out on the lawn by himself.What the hell had gotten into Chryseis?Only a few hours earlier she had been as calm as a person could be before a battle and now she was snapping at the wind! Maybe she was feeling it too, the wrongness that was permeating things, or maybe she was just upset about that girl that had crashed the battle._Yes, that's probably it,_ Vegeta decided.

"This whole bad feeling is probably just me," he muttered to himself.

It wasn't just Vegeta though.Miles away in his comfortable mountainside home Goku was sitting with his wife and younger son at their small kitchen table telling them what the others were planning for the next day when the feeling of uneasiness overtook him.

Quickly he finished up his story and added, "Just in case I'm going to get everybody together tomorrow and keep an eye for trouble."

"Do you think there will be trouble?" Goten wanted to know.

"Oh, no, of course not," Goku said a little to hastily."I just want to be ready.You know, just in case."

Chi Chi was pointedly silent.She knew her husband too well to believe that. Unless he thought there was trouble he never said anything, and sometimes even then he kept up a nonchalant facade to prevent total mental breakdown from occurring among the others.No one ever got worried unless Goku did, and so Goku did his best not to let the others see him worried unless they were in dire straits.No dire straits yet thought, she thought, a little relieve, he's still playing the relaxed family man.

Meanwhile that feeling in the pit of Goku's stomach, the one that told him something was wrong, started to grow.

Gohan too was affected by the disquiet that was affecting the others.He was, like his father, having a family moment, his young daughter Pan -seven years old and proud of it- sitting on his lap while his wife Videl was busying herself in the kitchen making lunch.The moment of domestic bliss was shattered, however, when Pan started to cry.

"What is it, Sweeting?" Gohan asked his tearful daughter. 

"I'm scared," she replied."The air stinks."

Gohan, who also felt a little uneasy, but simply laid it on the fact that there was going to be a battle the next day and he wasn't going to be able to be there to make sure things turned out all right, looked at his daughter curiously."What do you mean, the 'air stinks'?" He asked.

"It just smells bad," Pan replied, wiping the tears off her round little face. "But it's not really a smell, it's a... a... feeling, Daddy.I don't like it."

Videl, who had heard her daughter burst into tears dashed into the living room and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, Sweetheart, just..." Gohan paused, frowning."Something doesn't feel right.Pan feels it too."

"What do you think is going on?" Videl wanted to know.She picked her daughter up andheld her close.

Gohan answered, "I don't know."

Out in the wilderness Piccolo was attempting to meditate, but a growing sense of... something he couldn't quite pin down distracted him.Frustrated he gave up and tried to figure out what was the matter, but the problem was elusive and traces of it fleeting. The only thing he could be sure about was that whatever it was, it was not just a threat to him, but a threat to the entire planet, the entire universe even.Once a long time ago he wouldn't have even noticed something like this, but ever since fusing with Nail, and thenKami, his better half, things that endangered the planet were on his mind as much as anything.The wind picked up, blowing the tall, green Namekian's cape in the wind, and in the wind he felt danger.

"What danger?" He shouted into the empty wilderness."When is it coming?"

The wind paid his questions no mind, it simply kept coming, and with it, the warning it carried, washing over Piccolo in tormented waves.

And so it was for all the other Z fighters as well, each one feeling that there was something terribly wrong, but unable to do anything about it.Strangely enough Chryseis, one who had always been sensitive to such things, was oblivious.Perhaps it was because she was not so closely attuned to the planet as the others, but the reason didn't matter.What mattered was that she didn't notice, and so therefore, wrapped up in her own misery the way she was, she could not see the signs of danger.

Day faded into night and at Capsule Corp. everyone began to make their way to bed, going through the routine tussles between the two kids over who got to use the bathroom sink when for brushing teeth and such.The mundane seemed to take control for a while, washing cares away, if only for a few minutes, in the boredom of routine. All those concerns came rushing back, however as soon as the distraction ceased and minds started to drift toward sleep.

He must have been thinking about the uneasiness of the day right before he went to sleep because Vegeta dreamt about it.Unlike the dream that had heralded Chryseis' arrival months before this dream was not short on detail.Vegeta found himself wandering through the ruins of a city, long since destroyed and reduced to rubble.The wild was starting to retake the dead city. Vines climbed the sides of broken high-rise buildings, crumbling stone and rotting wood and pockets in steel frames filled in with dirt by the wind serving as footholds for creepers.The streets were broken, asphalt cracked and thrust into the air at sharp angles by time, erosion, and the roots of the trees that had taken over.Nothing was alive in the city save for the plants, and even they looked sickly in the dim light.

Vegeta stumbled over something on the broken street, and turned back to see what it was. His eyes fell upon the cracked and age-yellowed skull of a child, the rest of the skeleton caught up in rocky, broken pavement.He had seen death before, he had dealt out death in his time as if it were nothing, but as he began to turn away from the child's skeleton, thousands more skeletons appeared, each yellowed with age and wind and rain, each twisted and shattered, piled many deep in the ruined street between two rows of eroded buildings, and the sight of all those bones made him shiver.A top this pile of ancient bone was a man, who stood tall in a blood red cloak and military cut jacket and black military cut pants.His hair was streaked with black and his eyes were glowing with a blood red inner light.This imposing figure threw back his head and laughed, his voice like ice.

"You will fail and this is what your world will become," the man said, grinning maliciously. "I will destroy you..." 

The dream shifted suddenly, throwing Vegeta off balance and sending him through a series of mind-bending visions.He saw himself, barely standing, bloodied, broken, but determined to fight.He saw the bodies of Tien and Chaotzu, torn apart and resting in pools of their own blood.He saw Chryseis dead as well, that red-haired girl standing over her with a malicious grin on her blood-spattered face.Then he saw them all, himself and the others, surrounded by piles of bodies, soldiers, white-coated scientists and lab technicians all spread out across a blood slicked tile floor.And one by one more bodies were piled up on top of the others by wave after wave of soldiers.They came, the put down their grisly burden, then left to get another body.Rooted to the spot by a force that he could not understand, Vegeta watched as the wall of the dead grew steadily higher and pushed back the ceiling of the room.And then he started seeing people he knew being added to the pile.First Krillin, then Eighteen and their daughter Marron, then Seventeen, then Yaumcha and Puar, then Chichi and Videl, then Goten, then Dende and Mr. Popo, then Yajirobe and Karin, then Gohan, then Pan,then Uub, and then Goku's broken body was thrown on the pile. When he thought there could be no more, the soldiers carried in Bulma,her throat slashed, then Trunks, covered in his own blood, and then lastly they carried in Bra, her teddy bear still clutched to her chest as her dead eyes stared outward, a look of terror etched on her lifeless face. 

Everyone was dead, everyone except him, and he was unable to move.Dead eyes stared at him accusingly, as if to say, why aren't you dead too? It was too much for Vegeta.He let out an animal roar and tried to get out of this prison of the dead, but he could not.All he could do was watch in horror as one by one bodies were stacked up to the sky, like a demented fortress, each corpse a building block.Blood began to pool at his feet, not his own, but the blood of all the dead that surrounded him.It rose higher and higher, flooding the ring of dead, filling it up to the top.Vegeta struggled as the blood rose up to his head, then over his head and continued on upward.Frantic he tried to pull his feet up off the ground, but he was held back by forces greater then he could imagine.His body screamed for oxygen and on reflex he inhaled.Hot, sticky blood flowed into his lungs, choking him. One last time he tried to free himself, but he faltered, and so he drowned in the blood of those he had failed to protect.

Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at his bedroom ceiling.His hands were clenched so tight that his fingernails dug into his palms, leaving four half-moon gashes on each hand. He could still feel himself unable to breathe, and for a moment he almost panicked, but gradually the panic subsided, leaving him sweat-drenched and nauseous.Unsteadily, he got out of bed and wobbled into the adjoining bathroom, intent on washing the gashes he had left in his hands.As he turned on the faucet on the bathroom sink and ran the water over his injured hands, Bulma made a small waking-noise from the other room, but soon she returned to her deep sleep. Vegeta, finished cleaning the blood off of his hands and satisfied that he would not start bleeding again out of the blue, returned to the bedroom.For some reason he did not want to go back to bed just yet though. He sat down in an armchair in one corner of the room and closed his eyes in thought. That nightmare... he shivered, it was the worst dream he had ever had.His stomach threatened to crawl out his mouth when he thought about it.It had been so vivid, so... real, that even now, as he sat in his own bedroom, he remembered it as if it had really happened to him.

On the bed, Bulma made another waking noise and felt around on the bed for her husband. She sat up sharply when she didn't find him next to her.No longer happily tired, Bulma scanned the room, her gaze passing over Vegeta as he sat in the corner once before going back and zeroing in on him.

"You scared the daylights out of me!" She hissed in a whisper."What are you doing over there?"

"Thinking," Vegeta muttered.

"Well don't do that!"

"What think?"

"No! I mean don't just get up and... go without... without telling me or... something." She seemed flustered.

"You were sleeping."

"What are you doing up anyway?" Bulma asked.She hesitated."Do you have to leave now?"

"Not yet," Vegeta answered.

"Then what are you doing up?" She asked again.

"I told you, I'm thinking."

Bulma was silent for a moment."I thought you'd gone already when I woke up and you weren't there.You scared the crap out of me."

"What do you mean?"

"I do worry about you, you know," she said.

Vegeta snorted."Well don't."

"Easy for you to say! Do you have any idea what it's like not knowing what's going on with you guys when you're out fighting? It's terrible! I woke up this morning and I didn't know you had gone to fight until Trunks and Bra told me.I... I thought for a minute a when I just woke up now that you'd gone off again.I thought you'd gone again and I..." she bit her lip."The last time there was a big battle... you... you..."

Vegeta cocked his head and looked at her from across the darkened room."Died?" he put in. "I know, I remember."

"Yeah.I just... sometimes... just promise you won't do that again."

"What, die?"

"Yeah."

"Have more faith in me than that," Vegeta said."I'm not going to die any time soon."

Bulma looked at him beseechingly."Promise me."

Vegeta sighed."I promise you I won't die any time soon," he said.

Satisfied, Bulma said, "Good, now come back to bed."

Suddenly feeling tired, Vegeta followed her suggestion and crawled back into bed.

Bulma laid her head on his chest and whispered, "Wake me up before you go tomorrow."

Vegeta grunted his acknowledgment and wrapped an arm around her.His eyes closed of their own accord as sleep overtook him again.This time he did not dream.


	13. The Red Cloaked Man

In the dim light of early morning four warriors met on the lawn of the Capsule Corp. compound and took one last deep breath of the clean cool air before they started on the strangest journey of their lives.Which was saying a lot because three of those warriors, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu, had all been dead more than once.

"After we step through the portal," Chryseis said, "do not let go of me at any cost.I've never taken anyone else through before so I don't know what would happen if I lost you.Most likely nothing but... then again you could end up in a strange universe where I'd never find you again or you could end up being ripped into subatomic particles."

"I'm brimming with anticipation," Vegeta said sarcastically."I can't wait to get ripped into subatomic particles."

"The King of Sarcasm and Witty Retorts strikes again," Chryseis returned. "Do you all remember what you're supposed to do?"

Tien nodded."Chaotzu and I are going to destroy the portal generator itself while you and Vegeta destroy any data they have."

"Correct, then we meet up above the building and scoot back here before they can call in the cavalry.And don't think that they'll send a tiny force like they did yesterday.An attack on the most important scientific research facility in the sector will bring soldiers from hundreds of miles around and they're going to come in a force so big you won't even have time to piss yourself before they Suppress your power so much that you can't even stand.We're going to have to move like lightening." She took a look around at her fellow fighters."You guys ready?"

"Yeah," Vegeta said.

"Yes," Tien agreed.

"I'm with you," Chaotzu replied.

Chryseis put her hand out and all three grabbed on to either her hand or her arm."Remember, don't let go no matter what," she repeated.Directly in front of the four of them a black emptiness opened up.Together they moved toward the portal and stepped through.

In Chryseis' dimension a group of fourteen warriors stood before a black portal as well.A man in a red cloak oversaw the preparations, flanked by a guard of six stone-silent men.

"Is the machine recharged?" The man in the red cloak asked imperiously of a scrawny, acne-scarred man in his late twenties.

The scrawny man replied, "Yes my Liege, it is recharged, but we had to pull energy from 

the defenses around this room to do it."

"The machine is recharged and that is all that matters." The cloaked man smiled coldly.Four hour earlier than expected, Jhenen, impressive."

Jhenen bobbed his head respectfully."I do my best, my Liege."

"Attention!" Shouted the cloaked man.The fourteen warriors at the edge of the portal stiffened and directed their gazes up at the cloaked man."Proceed through the portal.When you arrive at you destination, eliminate all opposition then proceed to conquer the staging world.Once conquest is finished send a representative back and we will return him with the other portal generator so we can begin receiving slaves."

"Yes sir!" All fourteen warriors shouted in unison.

"Go forward, my warriors!" 

A great cry arose and the warriors stepped through the portal.

The red-cloaked man watched the last go through and said, "And so let the conquest begin."

At home in bed, Goku sat upright suddenly, sensing a strange group of kis to the South, fourteen to be exact. Beside him Chi Chi awoke as well, her dark eyes opening in worry. 

"What is it, Goku?" She whispered.

"You know that thing I was preparing for, 'just in case'?"

Chi Chi nodded.

"It's happening." Goku slipped out of bed and quickly pulled on his gi, shouting, "Goten! Wake up son! We're going to have to fight after all."

Chryseis, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu stepped out of the portal and onto the hard tiled floor of the research facility. They stood in a brightly lit, but utterly empty hallway that seemed to go on forever, its smooth walls blemished by the occasional door.

Chryseis got her bearings and said to the others, "Tien, Chaotzu, go right, Vegeta and I will go left.The portal is on sub-level C-12, just take the elevator there." Her face hardened."If anyone gets in your way, kill them.Everyone here can fight, whether they're a soldier or a scientist, and everyone uses Suppression, so there's no mercy."

Chaotzu swallowed hard. 

"Buck up, little man," Chryseis said harshly."The world's not a nice place.Now get going, we only have a short time!"

The triclops and his small companion raced down the hallway in one direction while Chryseis and Vegeta went the other way.

"Where are we going?" Vegeta demanded, pacing Chryseis stride for stride.

"To the quarters of the black project scientists. They didn't keep much data except in their minds, so to get the data, we've got to get them."

Vegeta nodded."Which is why you sent Mime-Boy and Three-Eyes to destroy the machine and not with us. Don't think they can handle taking out a bunch of white-coated techies do you?"

Chryseis shook her head in affirmation."We can only hope that they don't get hung up down below," she murmured.

Attracted by the sound of fast-moving footsteps, a sleepy guard just off duty stepped out of one of the side doors and looked out to see Chryseis and Vegeta."Hey! Stop right there!" He shouted.

"Fuck me!" Chryseis muttered under her breath.Then to the guard, "No such luck, friend." She shot a ki blast at the guard and dropped him to the ground, a smoking hole in his chest.Unfortunately that particular guard wasn't the only one in the room he'd been in, and five more warriors dashed out. Vegeta and Chryseis slaughtered them with ease.

From below came the sound of an explosion, and alarm klaxons began to sound.

"I think we've been found out," Vegeta said.

"Yeah, me too," Chryseis agreed.

The pair continued their way down the hall toward their goal.

The trouble began the moment Tien and Chaotzu stepped off the elevator. They had expected to find a room full of technicians, and a few soldiers standing guard over a valuable piece of equipment.What they had not expected to find was a room teeming with guards and more guards and nothing but guards.

"Oh hell!" Tien shouted, shooting into the mass of soldiers that swarmed towards them.He took out five or six, but about fifty or sixty more kept coming. 

Quickly Chaotzu did the only thing that came to mind and pushed the door close button on the elevator control panel just before they were overwhelmed.The soldiers, obviously under orders not to do anything that might irreparably damage the facility, began to pound on the elevator door, denting it.Soon the door would break and Tien and Chaotzu would be crushed under the onslaught. 

"What do we do?" Chaotzu asked.

"We go up," Tien answered.He raised his hand toward the elevator ceiling and blasted a hole in it.The two warriors leapt out of the elevator car as it began to plummet toward the bottom of the shaft, taking one or two soldiers with it that had managed to enter the car only second before.The rest of the soldiers swarmed up the elevator shaft after Tien and Chaotzu.

On Earth things were looking pretty dim.Nine warriors had assemble to fight the invaders, two of which, Trunks and Bra, were forced to stay to the side because they could not yet Suppress and fight at the same time.The Earth's defense force consisted of Goku, his two sons, Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin his wife Juuhachigou, and her brother, Juunanagou.Opposing them were fourteen stone-faced warriors, men and women, all of whom could use Suppression.

The leader of the invaders grinned coolly as he threw his maroon cloak to the ground.His fellows followed suit, causing the air around them to be a mass of multicolored cloth for a moment. "Surrender or die," was all the leader said.

"Nice show," Piccolo snarled, throwing his own cloak aside and tossing his turban to the ground.Both items landed with a solid _thunk_. 

"But its really more impressive if they're weighted," Goku added.

In response the leader shouted, "Charge!"

The fourteen warriors rushed toward the seven, and the fight began.

"Remind me again why we don't just blast the whole damn thing?" Vegeta whispered as he and Chryseis approached the guarded quarters of the facility's top scientists. 

Chryseis grimaced."Because they've got the whole compound wired to absorb whatever you throw at it.I don't think even you could overload the circuits."

"So we blast it from inside," Vegeta muttered."I don't like all this cloak and dagger nonsense."

"Oh shut up," Chryseis retorted."We're almost there.Listen, there are guards around the corner." 

"I'll get them." Vegeta darted around the corner, Chryseis close at his heels.He smashed the first guard's throat before the man could even make a sound, and then fractured the second guard's skull. He dropped the corpse to the ground. "Well that was easy."

Chryseis burned the lock off the door with a small ki-blast and rushed in. Inside four men and two women were sitting up groggily in bed, rubbing their eyes. Chryseis looked at each face and recognized none.She grabbed the nearest person, a middle-aged woman, by the collar of her nightgown and pulled her out of bed."Where the hell are they? Where are the people who are usually here?" She demanded, shaking the frightened woman.

"I d... d... don't know!" Shrieked the woman. "Th... an order j... just came down today! His Majesty wanted us to be here! Please don't hurt me!"

Chryseis tossed the woman into a wall, creating a hole.Moaning, the woman slumped on the floor."Does anyone know where the other scientists are? Tell me now!"

One man, at the far end of the room, spoke up in a quavering voice."I... I think that they are down with the p... portal g... generator.I wasn't supposed t... to hear that... but..."

"Thanks," Chryseis said.She stepped out the door, half-turned and fired a blast into the room, incinerating the scientists. "Because you were so forthcoming I'll grant you a quick death."

"Someonelit your fuse, girl," Vegeta said.

"Yeah, well, it's battle," Chryseis replied."They were scum anyway. C'mon, down to the portal!"

Sweat beaded on Yamcha's forehead as he rushed to meet his first opponent, a twenty-something woman with silvery-blonde hair.The woman kicked out, catching him across the chest with the sole of her boot and sent him skidding across the ground.He stood up and charged, slamming one fist into her jaw and the other into her stomach.The woman grunted and staggered back, wiping blood off of her lips.

"Nice shot," she said."Here's something for you!" She roared and grabbed him by the wrist, lifting him into the air then throwing him at the ground.

Yamcha got his feet underneath him and used the force of her attack to turn the tables.

He pivoted on one foot, grabbed on of her arms with his free hand and slammed her into the dirt. The woman lay prone on her stomach for a moment, shocked, and tried to catch her breath. In that moment Yamcha backed up and fired a ki blast at her, hoping to hurt her while she was still down. What he did not expect to find when the dust cleared was for the woman to turned to ash.Yamcha shot a glance around the battle, and saw Trunks and Bra give him a thumbs up from behind a rocky outcropping. They had used Suppression on the woman while she was to shocked to resist it, so his blast had caught her unprepared. Yamcha surreptitiously returned the kids' thumbs up and waded into where the fighting was thickest.

"We can't hold them off like this forever!" Tien shouted to Chaotzu over the shrill wailing of the alarms as the two of them flew down a brightly lit hallway, taking the occasional pot shot at their pursuers. Every once in a while they hit, but no matter how many they took out another three seemed to appear out of nowhere to take the fallen warrior's place.Instead of loosing opponents, they actually had more than when they started. 

"What floor are we on?" Tien asked.

"Sub-level C-4 according to a sign back there.We started on... Aboveground-level B-1... I think," Chaotzu answered.

"Well, let's go back up there! Maybe we'll run into Chryseis and Vegeta and they can help us with these guys!" Tien aimed at the ceiling and blasted a hole through it and the ceiling of a couple floors above.He leapt through the hole and continued upward, Chaotzu and what seemed to be the entire body of guards stationed at the research facility right behind him. 

Chryseis and Vegeta heard a rumbling sound approaching them as they ran to get to the portal generator.All of a sudden Tien and Chaotzu came rushing down the corridor going the opposite way.

"Run! Run! Run!" Tien shouted as he passed. 

Coming to a screeching halt, Chryseis looked at Vegeta."What's he doing up here?"

Vegeta shrugged. 

Just then the soldiers that had been chasing Tien and Chaotzu rounded the corner and bore down on the two as they stood.

"Shit!" Chryseis shouted.

She and Vegeta turned and took off after the others.Vegeta flew backwards and blasted continuously at the approaching mob as he and Chryseis went, but whenever he thought that he was done, more soldiers appeared.

"What are these people?" He demanded of Chryseis.

"They're the facility's slave army.None of them can use Suppression but there's a shit load of them," Chryseis answered.

"Like god damned ants!" Vegeta snarled, redoubling his efforts with little success.

"They know where to lead them, correct?" The red-cloaked man asked of a tall gentleman dressed in a fitted jacket over top of a grayish jumpsuit.

"Yes my Liege," the other replied. 

"Excellent," said the red-cloaked man. His dark eyes scanned the room, falling on the legions that surrounded him, all Suppression warriors, all of them within the top fifty in the sector. Forty-four pairs of eyes met his gaze, and he smiled. "Excellent indeed."

______________________________________________________________________________

Exciting enough for you yet?

Are you asking yourselves, how are they going to win this one?

If you are that's good! To quote Vegeta in chapter 2, "I hate easy fights," and so therefore I don't like to write 'em.

P.S. Betcha forgot that Chryseis could be a super-cold-hearted butt-kicker!

The Blue Sorceress 


	14. Ambushed

Struggling under the weight of four warriors, Goku fought savagely for each blow and block.The scary thing was that he was barely able to maintain Super Saiyan and without Bra's assistance in resisting the Suppression attacks on him he would have fallen long ago. The four warriors, two women and two men, dove at him again.One blow struck him in the chest, cracking ribs, but the other three, all aimed for more vital areas, like his neck for instance, he managed to block.Suddenly Goku felt his strength drop dramatically and he fell to the ground, his hair changing back into black and his eyes fading to their usual dark color. Four fists came toward him, going for finishing blows, but at the last second Bra resumed her protection of Goku, and he flared back up into Super Saiyan, knocking the four warriors back a number of yards.

Good timing, kiddo, Goku thought, shooting into the air and then hovering a few hundred feet above the battle.He got a look around and took a deep breath, aggravating his injured ribs.Gohan and Goten were holding their own against two fighters and one fighter respectively, Piccolo was managing one with moderate success, Krillin was struggling with his one for a moment, then it seemed Trunks began to resist Suppression for the former monk and so Krillin began to do much better, Yamcha had finished off his first opponent and was moving on the second, a large man in dark yellow, while strangely enough Juuhachi and her brother were mopping the floor with their opponents. A pair of brown-haired warriors were attacking Seventeen and a red-haired woman was attacking Eighteen.

I wonder how they're doing that? Goku thought.He had no more time for thinking when his four opponents, having recovered from their shock and then caught their breath, charged him. 

"Ris, Gai, take the sides!" Snapped the smallest of the men. The two women obeyed and got on either side of Goku while the two men got in front and behind him."Time to give in, friend," said the small man."I don't know how you've managed to hold out this long but you're not going to for much longer."

Goku saw Piccolo finish off his opponent and then rush to take one of Gohan's opponents."I don't think so," he said.

"Cocky," spat one of the women, tossing her mane of auburn hair."Your stupid friends might have beaten four of the King's Guard, but we're fourteen of the King's Guard and you don't seem to know Suppression worth shit."

"Twelve," Goku corrected.

"What?" Snapped the other woman.

"There are only twelve of you left, sorry."

"Bastard!" Shouted the taller of the two men, speaking for the first time."Bastard, where's Shaena?"

"I saw her go up against the scarred fighter, but I haven't seen her since..." whispered the 

auburn-haired woman, her eyes sweeping across the battlefield."Tavin's down," she added, her throat catching.

"That bastard!" Screamed the taller man."I'm going to fucking kill him!" He took off toward Yaumcha at high speed, leaving Goku only the other three to deal with.

The second woman narrowed her eyes at Goku."Nice try, fella, but I don't got a sister to avenge."

"Nor I," said the small man.

The auburn-haired woman growled."I should have been down there to protect Tavin, but instead you decided to play games.He's dead now, and soon you will be too!"

Games? Goku wondered. Does she think I'm playing games? He didn't have much time to think about that either before his three remaining opponents attacked again with renewed fury.

"I'm lost!" Chryseis announced to her three companions. 

Vegeta turned his head just enough to shoot her a look of disbelief."You all but lived here for what, ten years? How can you be lost?"

"I've never been on this level before.Blame Tien and Chaotzu for deciding that the best way to go was down."

"It's not my fault!" Tien exclaimed for the third time in the past two minutes. 

The four rounded a corner and came to a halt facing a dead end.Behind them the roar of hundreds of running warriors all but drowned out Chaotzu's exclamation of exasperation. 

"Where to now, oh Fearless Leader?" Vegeta asked mockingly. 

Chryseis blasted a hole in the wall closest to the center of the compound."That way!" She ducked through the hole and the others followed her.

Stopping just on the other side of the wall Tien and Chaotzu took up positions on wither side of the hole and started to blast opponents. "Get going, destroy that machine! We'll hold them off for now and then get back to you!" Tien shouted over the din.

Chryseis nodded and she and Vegeta continued on their way through the maze like complex.

Bones snapped and Juunana punched his opponent in the chest.The maroon-suited 

warrior that had been tentatively identified as the leader of the group of invaders flew backwards and into a rocky outcropping.Juunana advanced again and drove the warrior into the rocks with blow after blow until the two of them punched through to the other side.The enemy leader staggered to his feet, his face bleeding from several nasty cuts. 

He clutched at his ribs and rasped, "Why... why isn't it working?"

"Why isn't what working?" Juunana sneered. 

"Why can't I Suppress you? Tell me? Why can't I feel your ki?"

Juunana laughed. "Because I don't have the same kind of power you pathetic creatures have." His face twisted into a feral grin."Time to die." He cupped his hands and fired a ki-blast and the wounded fighter, and when the smoke cleared, the lead warrior was gone.Juunana brushed a few strands of black hair out of his face and looked around for his next opponent.

Nearby Juuhachi had just finished off her opponent, crushing his skull with one hand.She wiped her hands off on the dead warrior's jumpsuit and as she stood up again caught sight of Krillin struggling against a tall blonde woman.Juuhachi growled and rushed at the warrior that was attacking her husband.She planted on booted foot at the base of the warrior's spine and was rewarded with a loud snapping sound.The blonde warrior gave a cry of pain and collapsed to the ground. Juuhachi ended the woman's suffering by burning a hole through her heart. 

Krillin, one of his eyes bruised shut and showing a few scrapes across his face, grinned lopsidedly."Thanks," he said.

Juuhachi smiled, nodded and went to look for her opponent.

Chryseis and Vegeta reached a massive steel door and stopped.Far behind them explosions told them that for the moment Tien and Chaotzu were holding up their end and keeping the waves of slave soldiers back.

"This looks like as likely a spot as any," Chryseis muttered.She blasted the door and rushed through, Vegeta close at her heels. The smoke cleared and revealed that yes, they were in the right place, but it also revealed something else.At the far end of the room the red-cloaked man stood on a raised walkway, smiling evilly, nearly fifty warriors below him.

"Oh hell!" Chryseis swore. "Retreat!"

Vegeta was already backing out of the ruined doorway when he felt twenty-two warriors latch onto him with Suppression.He tried to resist, but it was too much.He felt his knees buckle as all access to his power, but the merest trickle that would keep him alive, was cut off.A moment later Chryseis fell too, her hands hitting the metal flooring with a resounding _smack_.

The red-cloaked man levitated over the head of his forty-four warriors and landed lightly next to Chryseis head.He bent down and grabbed Chryseis by the chin, lifting her into the air easily with one hand and bringing her face level with his.Chryseis' cold blue eyes met the fiery reddish-brown eyes of her captor. 

"So you have finally returned, Chryseis de Curion.I would have sworn that you would have come earlier to save the man that you supposedly loved, but it seems your heart is just as cold as they say after all."

"Thor de Ret de Otoran," Chryseis hissed, "you bastard!" 

"That is Your Highness the King to you, de Curion," spat the red-cloaked man.

"Fuck you!" Chryseis retorted as venomously as she could.

Thor threw her against a wall like a child might an old rag doll.Chryseis slumped against the cool metal floor with a moan. 

"And what have we here?" Thor asked, approaching Vegeta, who in the interim had managed to get to his feet."I've heard so much about you from Pollo," Thor said with an icy grin as he looked down into Vegeta's defiant eyes."The Prince of the Saiyans.I hear that your race is almost as dead in your dimension as it is here.What a stroke of luck for the rest of the universe."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, but decided against lashing out with the worst Saiyan expletives he knew.For all that he could tell if it even sounded like he was going to harm the King he'd be dead before he even moved. He settled for glaring.

"Where's the Saiyan fire I read such much about in my history textbook?" Thor mocked."You know when you're beaten don't you? Stupid animals!" He back handed Vegeta and sent him flying into the wall to land next to Chryseis.

Doggedly, Vegeta stood and spat out a little bloody saliva.His legs quivered as he struggled to stay upright. "You haven't won yet," he rasped.

"I think I have," Thor replied.

______________________________________________________________________________

Yahoo! We're getting into the good stuff now boys and girls! Are you surprised by the revelation that Juunana and Juuhachi cannot be affected by Suppression? It was my plan all along to have them be able to seriously kick some butt in the battle on Earth.As for the rest of the guys on Earth they've got Trunks and Bra resisting Suppression for them at critical moments.Those two kids are getting as much of a work out as the others.

The Blue Sorceress 


	15. Gone

The dust settled in the once pristine hallway and Tien and Chaotzu both took ragged breaths. In front of them lay the bodies of the slave soldiers piled up two or three thick in some places. The nearby walls were full of more holes than Swiss cheese and the hole Chryseis had punched in the wall to get deeper into the facility was now about five times its original size. The word 'mess' wouldn't have even begun to describe the destruction. 

"I think..." Chaotzu began hesitantly, "I think that we've seen the last of them."

"Don't jinx it Chaotzu," Tien said."Come on, let's go see if we can catch up to Chryseis 

and Vegeta."

Silence hovered thickly around the portal room.Only moments ago the sound of explosions had ceased to echo down the corridors as one final wave of smoke and ash washed into the room through the ruined door.

Thor laughed."Well, it seems your friends are gone now too," he said to Chryseis.

Barely conscious, Chryseis stared up at Thor."No," she whispered hoarsely.

"Yes," Thor returned.He walked over to where Chryseis lay slumped against the wall and lifted her up by the front of her jumpsuit. "Now I think I'm going to kill you before you become even more of a pest than you already are." Something caught Thor's attention out of the corner of his eye. "Sit down!" He snapped, knocking Vegeta to the ground. 

Vegeta grunted in pain.He felt incredibly weak. He couldn't even stand anymore.

Thor drew back his free fist and aimed at Chryseis face intent on crushing her skull.

"Stop it!" Someone shouted.

Turning, Thor spotted Bryseus pushing her way through the group of warriors. He frowned.

"Stop it!" Bryseus shouted again."You promised me that I would get to kill her! You 

promised!"

Thor raised an eyebrow."Did I?"

"You promised that if I told you what I knew that you would let me kill her! It is my right! I will have my revenge! Put her the hell down now and tell your trained goons to stop Suppressing her! I will have a fair fight!"

"Do you actually believe that you can beat her?" Thor laughed in disbelief."How stupid are you girl? Go home to your mother!"

"You promised me!"

"I promised you whatever I thought would get me what I wanted you little fool!" Thor snapped.

Bryseus glared at Thor, too angry to care whether or not she was talking to the King."You promised me you bastard!" She screamed, leaping at Thor, her hands reaching for his throat.She didn't get very far. Ten soldiers Suppressed her and she went crashing to the ground.She got to her feet only to have another four soldiers Suppress her.This time when she fell all she did was groan.

Thor threw Chryseis to the ground and walked over to where Bryseus lay. He kicked her in the gut with one booted foot, sending her sailing into the mob of soldiers.As Thor approached the soldiers parted for him."Stupid, stupid girl," Thor said, kicking Bryseus again.

The red-haired girl cried out and curled up to protect her vulnerable stomach.

"What... makes... you... think... you... could... even... touch... me!" Thor shouted, punctuating each word with a sharp kick.

"Don't hurt her!" Chryseis croaked from the ground. "Let her go!"

Thor reached down and grabbed Bryseus by the hair, dragging her to where Chryseis could see her."You want me to spare her? She wants you dead! You're an even greater fool than she is!"

With seven less people Suppressing each of them, Chryseis and Vegeta managed to get to their feet and stand at least somewhat steadily. "Let her go!" Chryseis repeated.

"Come one step closer to me and I'll rip her head off," Thor threatened, yanking Bryseus' 

head back

"Afraid?" Vegeta snarled.

Thor replied, "No." He jabbed his knee hard into Bryseus' lower back, snapping her spine at the waist.The girl screamed."I just wanted to see what Chryseis would do." He let go of Bryseus'hair and the girl went limp on the floor, breathing shallowly. He approached Chryseis again."Now where was I before that unfortunate interruption? Ah yes! I was going to give you a quick death.Now I'm angry, so be prepared to suffer."

Chryseis closed her eyes, ready for the worst.From down the hall she heard footsteps approaching and felt two very familiar kis faintly through the haze of Suppression.

"Ah lovely, my pets coming back with their prizes no doubt.Do show them in 

gentlemen," Thor said.

The approaching warriors rounded the last corner and one of them shouted, "SOLAR FLARE!"

Blinding light enveloped the room and in its wake forty-two individual beams lanced out. Two struck the portal machine behind the warriors and the other forty each hit home on at least one warrior. The portal machine exploded brilliantly, taking a number of the scientists around it as it turned to lumps of molten metal and smoke

In the wreckage eight people were left standing: Chryseis, Vegeta, Tien, Chaotzu, Thor and three surviving warriors. Those last three did not stand long. Still unable to see, and too distracted to concentrate on Suppression or resisting Suppressing, the three warrior were cut down as Vegeta, fully powered up and angry as hell, decapitated them all with one blast.

Thor looked around, his eyes wide with shock."No, this can't be! I'm cannot be defeated!" He shouted.

"Good-bye, Your Highness!" Chryseis hissed, suddenly at his ear. She darted backward just as quickly.

All at once Chryseis, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu releaseda series of powerful ki-blasts and at the same time concentrated all their Suppression on Thor. Unable to resist Suppression from all of them, Thor took the brunt of the attacks at point blank range.He felt the energy ripping into his flesh, shattering bones and boiling away skin and muscle. He managed on final pain-filled scream before he was turned into ash.The shock waves from the blasts ripped the remaining scientists in the room apart and pushed the upper floors of the building into each other, destabilizing the entire structure. Debris began to rain down like cement and steel hailstones.

Chryseis pushed a piece of rubble off of Bryseus' still form. The girl was still breathing, but barely. She picked the girl up and shouted, "Grab a hold of me before this whole god damned building falls on our heads!"

Quick to follow her commands, Vegeta, Tien and Chaotzu rushed forward through the rain of debris and each took hold of Chryseis' shoulders. In an instant the dimensional portal opened up and the five of them went through.

On Earth things were quickly going bad for the invading warriors. Juunana and Juuhachi quickly dispatched every opponent they faced. Two enemy warriors remained alive, one fighting Goku and the other putting up a bad show against Gohan, who was being aided by Trunks. 

"Time to retreat!" Shouted the woman who was still desperately trying to defeat Goku. 

"Right on!" Agreed the other, backing away from Gohan.

Both warriors pulled a device out of their jumpsuits and shucked the protective outer casing on it. "Recall code Alpha-Zero-Six-Seven!" They shouted in unison. Nothing happened. In the moment of confusion that followed Piccolo took aim at one of the warriors and Goten at the other. After the smoke cleared there was nothing left of either enemy.

There was a moment when it was all everyone could do to believe that it was over. The unbeatable foes had been destroyed and everybody on the winning side was still alive. It had been a long, long time since they had not lost anyone in battle. All of this was tempered, however, by the fact that Vegeta and the others had not returned yet. In the wake of an unlikely victory, celebration was limited to a few people saying, "good job."

Goku dug into the pouch at his belt and produce six sensu beans.He gave one to Yaumcha, Krillin, Gohan, Goten and Piccolo, and ate the last himself.Trunks and Bra came out from behind the rock outcropping that had been their hiding place and received the thanks of their comrades politely, but without a great deal of enthusiasm.They too were waiting for their father and their friends to return safely.

When a portal did open up only a few minutes later celebration was further forestalled by the sight of Bryseus, limp and broken, in Chryseis' arms. Chryseis laid Bryseus out on the grass and gently supported her head.

"Wake up little sister," Chryseis whispered."C'mon, wake up, please!"

As if she were obeying a command Bryseus' eyes fluttered open and she stared up at Chryseis. She coughed once and blood oozed between her lips."It hurts, Chryseis," she rasped. "My... belly, it's on... fire." She moaned. 

The others crowded around the two figures on the ground.

"It's going to be all right, little sister," Chryseis assured her, stroking her hair with one grimy hand.

"I'll go get Dende!" Goku volunteered, placing two fingers against his forehead and using the instantaneous movement technique. 

Bryseus coughed again, spitting up more blood. She struggled to inhale, and each breath came in short, pained gasps. Blindly she grabbed at Chryseis hands, clutching the older fighter's fingers in her own with feverish intensity."I'm... sorry, sis," she said faintly, her eyes focused on the sky, unblinking.

"I forgive you," Chryseis replied, her voice catching.

The girl began to pant."It... hurts... oh God!... I don't want... to die!"

"You're not going to die!" Chryseis said fiercely.

But Bryseus was beyond hearing.She went into convulsions as her brain began to fire off random signals, her upper body bending at odd angles while below where her spine had been snapped she was all but still. The convulsions stopped and the girl's last breath hissed out of her body. 

Chryseis clutched Bryseus' body to her chest and cried out, "No! Not you too! I can't lose you too!"

At that moment Goku returned with Dende, and the not-quite adult Namekian rushed over to see what he could do. He hung his head sadly as he looked at Chryseis holding the dead girl against her. He was too late and that fact gripped his heart like an iron vise.

Oblivious to everything, Chryseis sobbed without reservation."No," she croaked."No, not you too.I lost Xander, I can't lose you little sister.It isn't fair.It's not fair!"

A strong hand fell on her shoulder and Chryseis turned to see Yamcha's scarred face."She's gone," he said gently.

The pity in his voice made Chryseis feel sick to her stomach. Attempting to pull together the shreds of her dignity Chryseis laid Bryseus back on the ground, smoothing the girl's hair with a loving hand before standing up. The calm would not come though. Angrily she swiped at her face, scrubbing away her tears, but they kept coming. She felt her knees go weak and she tumbled back to the ground, weeping into her hands. Kneeling beside her, Yamcha enveloped her in his arms. Too sick at heart to push him away, Chryseis cried into his shoulder. 

"Not you too, little sister," she whispered between sobs."You were all I had left."

______________________________________________________________________________

Feeling tragic? I am! Before I re-wrote this story to post it Bryseus was going to become a major character, but do to the fact that my storyline had changed almost entirely I had to kill her.She was one of my favorite created characters too; the product of a warrior society and a warped sense of honor and damn cute to boot! *Sob* I miss her already!

And how do you like the fact that Tien and Chaotzu saved the day? I told you they'd get their moment of glory and they did! The bad thing about Suppression is that if you get distracted enough you can't use it and you can't resist it either, and the solar flare technique is very, very distracting.

Well, enough that!There will be precisely one more chapter and then I can get to work on my sequel. Expect to see a few characters from this story as well as from one of my other stories as well as a whole host of new badies and a bunch of surprising, and annoying, resurrections.

Thanks, 

The Blue Sorceress


	16. Aftermath

Bryseus' funeral was not a lavish affair because no one other than Chryseis really knew the girl and Chryseis wasn't in the mood to be forthcoming. She did however dictate a couple of requirements. On the ground where the young fighter had breathed her last Goku and Gohan built a funeral pyre. All the Z fighters and their families attended the ceremony dressed in gray, with only Chryseis, the only one who had cared for Bryseus, wearing black. 

Alone Chryseis set the body of her beloved little sister, cold and stiff with death, onto the pyre. She backed away slowly, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on Bryseus' composed countenance. Tears threatened, but Chryseis willed them away. No, she decided, I will not cry. Bryseus would be dishonored if I cried. That was reason enough for Chryseis to hold her tears. Her own honor and image didn't matter to her anymore. All of the others had seen her collapse the day before when Bryseus had died, and from all of them she had felt pity, even from Vegeta though he was better at hiding it than the others. Out of habit she kept her distance from everyone, pushing them as far away as she could. She did not want to be comforted. 

Enveloping her hand in ki, Chryseis took a deep breath and looked out at the faces of those around her. From every pair of eyes came sympathy. We know how it is, they all said, we've lost loved ones too. Chryseis shook her head almost imperceptibly; they did not know how it was. She slowly exhaled and turned back to the pyre and Bryseus. From her lips, so silent that it could barely be heard, came the first note of the song for the dead. 

_"We will fight on,_

_though you are gone_

_from our sides,_

_our brothers in soul,_

_our comrades in arms._

_We will fight on_

_despite torn flesh and broken bone._

_We will fight on,_

_for your honor and for our own._

_In the warrior's paradise_

_look down and bless my blade,_

_for my next strike will rend_

_the flesh of he who slew you._

_My lost comrade, my brother,_

_I fight on for you._

_We will fight on,_

_though you are gone_

_from our sides,_

_our brothers in soul,_

_our comrades in arms."_

Her voice cracked as she sang, but she continued on regardless. She placed her ki-shrouded hand on one of the logs that made up the pyre and lit it as she finished the last note. 

"Good-bye, little sister," she said as the flames enveloped Bryseus' body. 

And that was the end of the ceremony. Chryseis stood and watched the fire as the others slowly filed away. Yamcha, however, stayed behind with Chryseis. 

"I don't want your sympathy, so if that's what you were here for, go away." Chryseis muttered. 

"Actually, it wasn't," Yamcha replied, walking up to stand beside her. "I wanted to talk to you." 

"About what?" 

"I dunno," he scratched his head. "I guess I just wanted to talk to you. It's kind of like you've been avoiding me." 

"How do you mean?" 

Yamcha frowned, trying to arrange his thoughts into coherent sentences. His heart thumped wildly in his chest as he realized that the conversation he'd been planning for the last month or two was about to actually take place. Somehow things were working out much more awkwardly in reality than they had in his mind. "I guess... I thought that after spending so much time with you in Ra'n K'ir we had become friends... er... something like that, and I hoped I'd be seeing more of you." 

"Why?" 

"Why what?" 

"Why did you hope you'd be seeing more of me?" 

"Oh... well, you know, I thought we were... friends." 

"Are you sure you want to be my friend?" 

"Huh?" 

Chryseis turned to look at him, her face an expressionless mask. "Do you remember the four warriors that came here?" 

Yamcha nodded. 

"They were my friends. I helped kill them anyway. Being my friend is a good way to die before your time. Everything I care for dies." 

"That's not true..." 

Chryseis brushed him off. "I had plans for my life you know. Before all this happened, before I learned that I could see into other dimensions, I had plans. I was going to be a great warrior and I was going to meet another great warrior and we were going to fall in love and get married and raise our children to be even greater warriors than us. When I met Xander the plan changed. It didn't matter that Xander was a scientist instead of a great warrior as long as he cared about me. He was the first person to understand me and my dreams and he was the first person to share them. I loved him, and because he loved me he died. And because he died Bryseus died. She wasn't just my student. She was my little sister; she was the daughter I had given up on having. After Xander died she was all I had, and now she's dead too. Everything that has ever touched my life has withered away and died." She laughed bitterly. "Do you still want to be my friend?" 

"I think I'm falling in love with you." 

There, he had said it. That part was done, now all he had to do was wait for a response. 

Chryseis eyes widened in surprise. Was he joking with her? If he was it wasn't funny. No, he wasn't joking, she could see it in his eyes. He was sincere. "How can you?" 

"How can I fall in love with you?" Yamcha was even more perplexed than she was. 

Chryseis nodded. "How can you pity me and love me at the same time?" 

"I don't pity you." 

"You do! I see it!" 

"I don't pity you, Chryseis," he repeated. "I mean sure, I feel sorry that you lost the people you loved, but I feel the same way whenever anyone I care about suffers. It's not pity." 

"You're sure about that?" 

Yamcha nodded. 

"You really think you're falling in love with me?" 

"I don't know for sure. Maybe it's just gratitude, but I don't think so. When that woman almost killed you..." he shook his head and took one of her hands in his and pressed it to his chest over his heart. "I felt sick, here, in my heart." 

"You did?" 

"I did." 

Chryseis looked pensive. 

Taking the opportunity to make his case, Yamcha continued, "You haven't lost everything, Chryseis. You've still got me if no one else." 

Frozen since Xander's death, Chryseis heart awoke. It was about time to put the past behind her and move onto the future even if the outcome was uncertain and she was afraid. She hadn't even thought about falling in love again, or that anyone other than Xander could love her. She still wasn't sure. 

"Anyway," Yamcha said awkwardly, "I had to say something. You know what I mean?" He let go of her hand reluctantly. "Sometimes things like that can kind of... fester." 

"I know." 

"So..." he scratched his head, trying to think of something to say. "I guess I'll leave you to think about all of this... um... see you later?" He turned quickly and started to leave. 

"Yamcha!" Chryseis called out. 

He turned back. 

Chryseis walked up to him. "You really think you're falling in love with me?" 

"Yeah, I think so." 

Uncharacteristically nervous, Chryseis shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Would... would you care to... fly me home?" She inquired, her eyes on her feet. 

"Of course." 

Chryseis reached out and grabbed one of his hands, and muttered. "I feel silly. Like a little girl." Then a little more confidently she added. "Well, come on, let's go then!" 

Smiling Yamcha tightened his grip on her hand and together they took flight. 

Somewhere in the mountains Vegeta sat staring at the sky as the sun sank below the horizon. He wasn't there to watch the sunset, he was there because he wanted solitude, something solely lacking back at Capsule Corp. Everyone had gathered there for a post-battle party, and the crowd and the noise had gotten to be too much. 

He wasn't going to find solitude up in the mountains either. 

Goku landed nearby and walked over, a goofy grin on his face. He sat down and said, "So how does it feel?" 

"How does what feel?" Vegeta asked, frowning. 

Goku laughed. "To have reached your goal." 

Vegeta gave him a piercing look. "What are you babbling about?" 

"I'm surprised you're not out bragging right now instead of glaring at the sunset." 

"Bragging about what you numb skull? Speak sense for once!" Vegeta snapped. 

"You're the strongest now." 

Vegeta blinked and his frown deepened. I am aren't I? He thought. He chucked quietly. "So I am." 

Goku shook his head. "I was expecting a little more of a reaction." 

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "What? You mean a victory dance and a big sign written across the sky?" He gestured to the orange sky with one hand. "'I'm stronger than Kakarott so there' perhaps? Or 'bow down before your almighty ruler or else'?" 

Goku nodded. "Something like that." 

"Kakarott, since the day I learned what my destiny was I've been chasing it, never thinking what I'd do when I finally caught it. Now it's ambushed me when I least expected it, and..." he shrugged. 

"You're scaring me." 

"Maybe I'm getting old but for the moment I'm relieved that I don't have to go chasing my destiny anymore." 

"What? You're not going out and conquering the universe?" Goku joked. 

Vegeta shook his head. "Too much work too little reward. I wouldn't even get a good fight out of it. Besides which I'm sure you'd make a nuisance out of yourself despite the fact that I can beat the crap out of you now." 

Goku nodded. "So what are you going to do?" 

"I don't know." 

"I could teach you how to fish." 

"Kakarott, the day I let you teach me how to fish is the day Roshi burns his collection of porn and becomes a monk." 

"Really, what are you going to do?" 

"Could you be any more annoying?" 

"I could try. C'mon tell me what your plans are now that you're the strongest." 

Vegeta sighed irritably. "If I do will you go away?" 

Goku nodded. 

"I have no plans. Once I would have, but all those plans are moot now. Frieza's dead, there's no need for me to prove that I'm stronger than you, and in a way the Saiyan race is... not thriving, but at the least being remember on this ugly little mud ball." 

"So you're not going to do anything?" 

"I thought you were going to leave." 

Goku grinned. "Sure, I'm going," he said. "You going to make and appearance at the party?" 

"Maybe." 

"See you later then." Goku flew off the way he had come and soon disappeared in the 

darkening evening sky. 

Vegeta sighed again and continued to stare irritably off into the distance. What was he going to do? His life's work had ended before his life, leaving a big gray area that he didn't like and couldn't seem to fill. _Leave it to Kakarott to bring up these questions,_ he thought sourly. 

The sun had completely set, and the stars were twinkling like diamonds in the moon-less sky by the time Vegeta decided to return home. He levered himself up off the ground and brushed dirt and pine needles off the seat of his pants before taking to the air. As he landed just outside of the Capsule Corp. compound he could smell food cooking out on the grill and he could hear the voices of the gathered people mixing into the semi-irritating semi-pleasant hum of conversation. 

_What the hell,_ he thought stepping into the glow of a large outdoor light, _let the future work itself out._

The End 


End file.
